China vs India: Cumulative CO₂ emissions from cement
China
17.31 billion tonnes
in 2024
India
3.15 billion tonnes
in 2024
China rank
1st
India rank
2nd
Cumulative CO₂ emissions from cement over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 17.31 billion tonnes against 3.15 billion tonnes in India, a difference of 14.16 billion tonnes.
That makes China's figure about 5.5 times India's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 97 shared years of data; in 1928 it was India ahead.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 211 countries.
Across the 11 decades both report, China averaged higher in 6 and India in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 78,038 tonnes | 435,106 tonnes | 357,068 tonnes | India |
| 1930s | 884,472 tonnes | 2.45 million tonnes | 1.56 million tonnes | India |
| 1940s | 3.96 million tonnes | 8.46 million tonnes | 4.50 million tonnes | India |
| 1950s | 13.92 million tonnes | 23.94 million tonnes | 10.02 million tonnes | India |
| 1960s | 54.34 million tonnes | 62.50 million tonnes | 8.16 million tonnes | India |
| 1970s | 168.45 million tonnes | 127.20 million tonnes | 41.25 million tonnes | China |
| 1980s | 525.69 million tonnes | 224.96 million tonnes | 300.73 million tonnes | China |
| 1990s | 1.59 billion tonnes | 450.63 million tonnes | 1.14 billion tonnes | China |
| 2000s | 4.31 billion tonnes | 906.39 million tonnes | 3.40 billion tonnes | China |
| 2010s | 10.29 billion tonnes | 1.79 billion tonnes | 8.50 billion tonnes | China |
| 2020s | 15.96 billion tonnes | 2.80 billion tonnes | 13.16 billion tonnes | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher cumulative co₂ emissions from cement, China or India?
- China, at 17.31 billion tonnes against 3.15 billion tonnes in India as of 2024.
- What is the difference in cumulative co₂ emissions from cement between China and India?
- 14.16 billion tonnes, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 97 years are reported by both, from 1928 to 2024.
- How do China and India rank globally for cumulative co₂ emissions from cement?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 211 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Cumulative CO₂ emissions from cement. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from cement since the first year of available data, measured in tonnes.