India vs Japan: Cumulative CO₂ emissions from coal
India
42.71 billion tonnes
in 2024
Japan
25.17 billion tonnes
in 2024
India rank
6th
Japan rank
7th
Cumulative CO₂ emissions from coal over time
- India
- Japan
How they compare
India currently reports 42.71 billion tonnes against 25.17 billion tonnes in Japan, a difference of 17.54 billion tonnes.
That makes India's figure about 1.7 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 147 shared years of data; in 1878 it was India ahead.
India ranks 6th and Japan ranks 7th of 179 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, India averaged higher in 3 and Japan in 13.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | India | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 7.69 million tonnes | 7.57 million tonnes | 117,000 tonnes | India |
| 1880s | 20.32 million tonnes | 23.96 million tonnes | 3.64 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1890s | 59.86 million tonnes | 93.29 million tonnes | 33.43 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1900s | 166.44 million tonnes | 292.08 million tonnes | 125.65 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1910s | 393.25 million tonnes | 715.10 million tonnes | 321.85 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1920s | 730.36 million tonnes | 1.42 billion tonnes | 686.39 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1930s | 1.11 billion tonnes | 2.30 billion tonnes | 1.19 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1940s | 1.58 billion tonnes | 3.50 billion tonnes | 1.92 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1950s | 2.14 billion tonnes | 4.53 billion tonnes | 2.40 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1960s | 3.03 billion tonnes | 5.97 billion tonnes | 2.94 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1970s | 4.34 billion tonnes | 7.96 billion tonnes | 3.63 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1980s | 6.36 billion tonnes | 10.22 billion tonnes | 3.86 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1990s | 10.03 billion tonnes | 13.15 billion tonnes | 3.12 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 2000s | 15.91 billion tonnes | 16.82 billion tonnes | 907.94 million tonnes | Japan |
| 2010s | 26.55 billion tonnes | 21.16 billion tonnes | 5.39 billion tonnes | India |
| 2020s | 38.71 billion tonnes | 24.38 billion tonnes | 14.33 billion tonnes | India |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher cumulative co₂ emissions from coal, India or Japan?
- India, at 42.71 billion tonnes against 25.17 billion tonnes in Japan as of 2024.
- What is the difference in cumulative co₂ emissions from coal between India and Japan?
- 17.54 billion tonnes, with India ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for India and Japan?
- 147 years are reported by both, from 1878 to 2024.
- How do India and Japan rank globally for cumulative co₂ emissions from coal?
- India ranks 6th and Japan ranks 7th of 179 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 coal. 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 coal since the first year of available data, measured in tonnes.