China vs India: Annual greenhouse gas emissions by world region
China
14.11 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents
in 2024
India
4.26 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents
in 2024
China rank
1st
India rank
3rd
Annual greenhouse gas emissions by world region over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 14.11 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents against 4.26 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in India, a difference of 9.84 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents.
That makes China's figure about 3.3 times India's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 175 shared years of data; in 1850 it was China ahead.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 199 countries.
Across the 18 decades both report, China averaged higher in 15 and India in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1850s | 392.20 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 317.39 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 74.81 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1860s | 295.53 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 300.26 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 4.73 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | India |
| 1870s | 254.35 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 312.67 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 58.32 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | India |
| 1880s | 312.30 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 341.37 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 29.07 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | India |
| 1890s | 394.20 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 366.21 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 27.98 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1900s | 497.23 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 374.68 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 122.54 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1910s | 632.58 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 392.78 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 239.79 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1920s | 685.34 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 562.09 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 123.25 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1930s | 841.67 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 652.44 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 189.23 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1940s | 1.04 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 737.20 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 307.04 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1950s | 1.51 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 944.44 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 565.88 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1960s | 1.88 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 936.76 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 946.67 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1970s | 2.92 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 1.04 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 1.88 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1980s | 3.56 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 1.30 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 2.26 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 1990s | 4.88 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 1.72 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 3.16 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 2000s | 7.27 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 2.26 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 5.02 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 2010s | 11.55 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 3.26 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 8.29 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
| 2020s | 13.39 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 3.88 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 9.52 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual greenhouse gas emissions by world region, China or India?
- China, at 14.11 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents against 4.26 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in India as of 2024.
- What is the difference in annual greenhouse gas emissions by world region between China and India?
- 9.84 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 175 years are reported by both, from 1850 to 2024.
- How do China and India rank globally for annual greenhouse gas emissions by world region?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 199 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual greenhouse gas emissions by world region. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Greenhouse gas emissions are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalents over a 100-year timescale.