Line
CO₂ Emissions per Person
Annual carbon dioxide emissions per person, metric tons
2 of 4 series are above their level a year earlier·2 of 4 are at a five-year high·1 of 4 is at a five-year low
Plays the chart through its history. Pauses are where the data set a record or moved most.
United States · Continuation · the recent trend, flattening · 3 years
China · Continuation · the recent trend, flattening · 3 years
European Union · Continuation · the recent trend, flattening · 3 years
World · Continuation · the recent trend, flattening · 3 years
Dashed: the projection from the latest reading. A projection, not a promise.
Global Carbon Budget (CC BY 4.0).
Emissions divided by population. Americans still emit more per person than people in China or Europe, though the U.S. figure has fallen.
What this chart reads
- United States CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget)as “United States”latest 2024-12-31
- China CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget)as “China”latest 2024-12-31
- European Union (27) CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget)as “European Union”latest 2024-12-31
- World CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget)as “World”latest 2024-12-31
Sources
United States CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget). Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025), Global Carbon Project, processed by Our World in Data (chart co-emissions-per-capita). Cite: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P. (2025), The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset (2025v15), Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17417124; and Friedlingstein, P. et al., Global Carbon Budget 2025. License: CC BY 4.0. Our World in Data processing is CC BY 4.0. https://globalcarbonbudget.org/
China CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget). Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025), Global Carbon Project, processed by Our World in Data (chart co-emissions-per-capita). Cite: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P. (2025), The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset (2025v15), Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17417124; and Friedlingstein, P. et al., Global Carbon Budget 2025. License: CC BY 4.0. Our World in Data processing is CC BY 4.0. https://globalcarbonbudget.org/
European Union (27) CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget). Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025), Global Carbon Project, processed by Our World in Data (chart co-emissions-per-capita). Cite: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P. (2025), The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset (2025v15), Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17417124; and Friedlingstein, P. et al., Global Carbon Budget 2025. License: CC BY 4.0. Our World in Data processing is CC BY 4.0. https://globalcarbonbudget.org/
World CO₂ Emissions per Person (Global Carbon Budget). Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025), Global Carbon Project, processed by Our World in Data (chart co-emissions-per-capita). Cite: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P. (2025), The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset (2025v15), Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17417124; and Friedlingstein, P. et al., Global Carbon Budget 2025. License: CC BY 4.0. Our World in Data processing is CC BY 4.0. https://globalcarbonbudget.org/
Charts are drawn from Palanor's signal library and recomputed from source data on every view. Transformations (changes, indexing, year-on-year rates) are Palanor's.