China vs India: Annual CO₂ emissions from coal
China
8.89 billion tonnes
in 2024
India
2.11 billion tonnes
in 2024
China rank
1st
India rank
2nd
Annual CO₂ emissions from coal over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 8.89 billion tonnes against 2.11 billion tonnes in India, a difference of 6.78 billion tonnes.
That makes China's figure about 4.2 times India's.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 118 shared years of data; in 1907 it was China ahead.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 179 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, China averaged higher in 12 and India in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 22.29 million tonnes | 20.77 million tonnes | 1.52 million tonnes | China |
| 1910s | 27.80 million tonnes | 29.27 million tonnes | 1.47 million tonnes | India |
| 1920s | 44.55 million tonnes | 36.06 million tonnes | 8.50 million tonnes | China |
| 1930s | 61.67 million tonnes | 40.80 million tonnes | 20.87 million tonnes | China |
| 1940s | 76.61 million tonnes | 50.24 million tonnes | 26.37 million tonnes | China |
| 1950s | 242.47 million tonnes | 64.09 million tonnes | 178.38 million tonnes | China |
| 1960s | 469.08 million tonnes | 110.21 million tonnes | 358.87 million tonnes | China |
| 1970s | 881.35 million tonnes | 153.14 million tonnes | 728.21 million tonnes | China |
| 1980s | 1.51 billion tonnes | 256.00 million tonnes | 1.25 billion tonnes | China |
| 1990s | 2.36 billion tonnes | 464.82 million tonnes | 1.90 billion tonnes | China |
| 2000s | 4.21 billion tonnes | 728.17 million tonnes | 3.48 billion tonnes | China |
| 2010s | 7.26 billion tonnes | 1.38 billion tonnes | 5.88 billion tonnes | China |
| 2020s | 8.36 billion tonnes | 1.87 billion tonnes | 6.49 billion tonnes | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual co₂ emissions from coal, China or India?
- China, at 8.89 billion tonnes against 2.11 billion tonnes in India as of 2024.
- What is the difference in annual co₂ emissions from coal between China and India?
- 6.78 billion tonnes, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 118 years are reported by both, from 1907 to 2024.
- How do China and India rank globally for annual co₂ emissions from coal?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 179 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual CO₂ emissions from coal. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal, measured in tonnes.