Which has higher food processing — emissions, Spain or Sub-Saharan Africa?

Sub-Saharan Africa, at 6,730 kt against 5,542 kt in Spain as of 2023.

What is the difference in food processing — emissions between Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa?

1,188 kt, with Sub-Saharan Africa ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa?

34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Food Processing — Emissions (CO2). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Spain vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Food Processing — Emissions

Spain

5,542 kt

in 2023

Sub-Saharan Africa

6,730 kt

in 2023

Spain rank

21st

Sub-Saharan Africa rank

24th

Food Processing — Emissions over time

Spain
Sub-Saharan Africa

How they compare

Sub-Saharan Africa currently reports 6,730 kt against 5,542 kt in Spain, a difference of 1,188 kt.

That makes Sub-Saharan Africa's figure about 1.2 times Spain's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Spain ahead.

Spain ranks 21st and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 24th of 103 countries.

Across the 4 decades both report, Spain averaged higher in 3 and Sub-Saharan Africa in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Spain	Sub-Saharan Africa	Difference	Ahead
1990s	6,730 kt	272.88 kt	6,458 kt	Spain
2000s	8,313 kt	1,032 kt	7,281 kt	Spain
2010s	5,931 kt	3,651 kt	2,280 kt	Spain
2020s	5,518 kt	5,609 kt	91.33 kt	Sub-Saharan Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher food processing — emissions, Spain or Sub-Saharan Africa?: Sub-Saharan Africa, at 6,730 kt against 5,542 kt in Spain as of 2023.
What is the difference in food processing — emissions between Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa?: 1,188 kt, with Sub-Saharan Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa?: 34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
How do Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa rank globally for food processing — emissions?: Spain ranks 21st and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 24th of 103 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Food Processing — Emissions (CO2). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Food Processing — Emissions (CO2)
Unit: kt
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage: 139 places, 3,693 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed: 13 August 2026

The FAOSTAT domain on Emissions from Pre- and post- agricultural production includes the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and related activity data, generated from pre- and post-agriculture production stages of the agri-food systems. Data are computed following the Tier 1 methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National greenhouse gas (GHG) Inventories (IPCC, 1996; 1997; 2000; 2002; 2006; 2014). The domain includes methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) emissions from the above activities as well as the aggregate fluorinated gases (F-gases) emissions. Estimates are available by country, with global coverage and are updated annually.The FAOSTAT domain disseminates information estimates of CH4, N2O, CO2 emissions, F-gases, their aggregates in CO2eq in units of kilotonnes (kt, or 10^6 kg), and the underlying activity data. CO2eq emissions are computed by using the IPCC Fifth Assessment report global warming potentials, AR5 (IPCC, 2014). Data are available for most countries and territories, for standard FAOSTAT regional aggregations, and for Annex I and non-Annex I country groups.