China vs India: Consumption-based CO₂ emissions
China
10.86 billion tonnes
in 2023
India
2.54 billion tonnes
in 2023
China rank
1st
India rank
3rd
Consumption-based CO₂ emissions over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 10.86 billion tonnes against 2.54 billion tonnes in India, a difference of 8.31 billion tonnes.
That makes China's figure about 4.3 times India's.
Across all 34 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 120 countries.
China has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.86 billion tonnes | 723.84 million tonnes | 2.13 billion tonnes | China |
| 2000s | 4.62 billion tonnes | 1.13 billion tonnes | 3.49 billion tonnes | China |
| 2010s | 8.66 billion tonnes | 1.90 billion tonnes | 6.76 billion tonnes | China |
| 2020s | 10.29 billion tonnes | 2.31 billion tonnes | 7.99 billion tonnes | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher consumption-based co₂ emissions, China or India?
- China, at 10.86 billion tonnes against 2.54 billion tonnes in India as of 2023.
- What is the difference in consumption-based co₂ emissions between China and India?
- 8.31 billion tonnes, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
- How do China and India rank globally for consumption-based co₂ emissions?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 120 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Consumption-based CO₂ emissions. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Annual consumption-based emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), measured in tonnes.