China vs United States: Maritime transport CO2 emissions (experimental)
Maritime transport CO2 emissions (experimental) over time
- China
- United States
How they compare
China currently reports 24.22 million Tonnes against 9.33 million Tonnes in United States, a difference of 14.89 million Tonnes.
That makes China's figure about 2.6 times United States's.
Across all 7 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
China ranks 2nd and United States ranks 3rd of 138 countries.
China has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 20.19 million Tonnes | 9.03 million Tonnes | 11.16 million Tonnes | China |
| 2020s | 24.50 million Tonnes | 10.26 million Tonnes | 14.24 million Tonnes | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher maritime transport co2 emissions, China or United States?
- China, at 24.22 million Tonnes against 9.33 million Tonnes in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in maritime transport co2 emissions between China and United States?
- 14.89 million Tonnes, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and United States?
- 7 years are reported by both, from 2019 to 2025.
- How do China and United States rank globally for maritime transport co2 emissions?
- China ranks 2nd and United States ranks 3rd of 138 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Maritime transport CO2 emissions (experimental). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
This experimental dataset includes annual, quarterly, and monthly information on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from maritime transport based on ship-tracking information collected via Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, covering all large vessels (above 300 gross tonnage) around the world, accessed via the United Nations Global Platform, from 2019 onwards. The CO2 emissions are estimated by the OECD, based on a consistent methodology across countries and include emissions from both domestic and international voyages. The CO2 emissions are classified using the ship-type classification used by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) distinguishing between 19 vessel categories such as bulk carriers, tankers, and cruise ships. The database provides a measure of CO2 emissions on a territory basis for domestic navigation, which is used for reporting in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) inventories; and also on a residence basis, which is used to estimate the emissions of maritime transport (H50 in the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, or ISIC) in the SEEA Air Emission Accounts (AEAs). Seven components of these CO2 emissions measures can be selected from the ‘Vessel emissions ’ filter. In the tables, these are also shown with the letters A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The aggregate measures of CO2 emissions are calculated as: Domestic navigation = A + C International navigation (memo item) = D + G Air emissions accounts: maritime transport (ISIC H50) = A + B + D + E + F For residence based measures, the allocation of emissions to countries is based on the residence of the companies that operate the ships. More information can be found on the dataset webpage