Japan vs South Africa: Cumulative CO₂ emissions from coal
Japan
25.17 billion tonnes
in 2024
South Africa
19.72 billion tonnes
in 2024
Japan rank
7th
South Africa rank
9th
Cumulative CO₂ emissions from coal over time
- Japan
- South Africa
How they compare
Japan currently reports 25.17 billion tonnes against 19.72 billion tonnes in South Africa, a difference of 5.45 billion tonnes.
That makes Japan's figure about 1.3 times South Africa's.
Across all 141 years both countries report, Japan has been ahead every year.
Japan ranks 7th and South Africa ranks 9th of 179 countries.
Japan has averaged higher in every one of the 15 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 30.36 million tonnes | 156,941 tonnes | 30.20 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1890s | 93.29 million tonnes | 10.60 million tonnes | 82.69 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1900s | 292.08 million tonnes | 68.32 million tonnes | 223.76 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1910s | 715.10 million tonnes | 221.99 million tonnes | 493.11 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1920s | 1.42 billion tonnes | 463.07 million tonnes | 953.68 million tonnes | Japan |
| 1930s | 2.30 billion tonnes | 751.32 million tonnes | 1.55 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1940s | 3.50 billion tonnes | 1.18 billion tonnes | 2.32 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1950s | 4.53 billion tonnes | 1.78 billion tonnes | 2.75 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1960s | 5.97 billion tonnes | 2.67 billion tonnes | 3.29 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1970s | 7.96 billion tonnes | 3.94 billion tonnes | 4.02 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1980s | 10.22 billion tonnes | 5.97 billion tonnes | 4.25 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 1990s | 13.15 billion tonnes | 8.80 billion tonnes | 4.35 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 2000s | 16.82 billion tonnes | 12.20 billion tonnes | 4.62 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 2010s | 21.16 billion tonnes | 16.13 billion tonnes | 5.04 billion tonnes | Japan |
| 2020s | 24.38 billion tonnes | 18.98 billion tonnes | 5.40 billion tonnes | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher cumulative co₂ emissions from coal, Japan or South Africa?
- Japan, at 25.17 billion tonnes against 19.72 billion tonnes in South Africa as of 2024.
- What is the difference in cumulative co₂ emissions from coal between Japan and South Africa?
- 5.45 billion tonnes, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and South Africa?
- 141 years are reported by both, from 1884 to 2024.
- How do Japan and South Africa rank globally for cumulative co₂ emissions from coal?
- Japan ranks 7th and South Africa ranks 9th 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.