China vs Japan: Share of cumulative CO₂ emissions from oil
China
6.1%
in 2024
Japan
5.4%
in 2024
China rank
2nd
Japan rank
4th
Share of cumulative CO₂ emissions from oil over time
- China
- Japan
How they compare
China currently reports 6.1% against 5.4% in Japan, a difference of 0.7%.
That makes China's figure about 1.1 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 118 shared years of data; in 1907 it was Japan ahead.
China ranks 2nd and Japan ranks 4th of 215 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, China averaged higher in 1 and Japan in 12.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | Japan |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | Japan |
| 1920s | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.6% | Japan |
| 1930s | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.3% | Japan |
| 1940s | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | Japan |
| 1950s | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% | Japan |
| 1960s | 0.3% | 1.6% | 1.3% | Japan |
| 1970s | 0.9% | 4.1% | 3.2% | Japan |
| 1980s | 1.8% | 5.3% | 3.6% | Japan |
| 1990s | 2.4% | 5.8% | 3.4% | Japan |
| 2000s | 3.4% | 6.0% | 2.6% | Japan |
| 2010s | 4.7% | 5.8% | 1.1% | Japan |
| 2020s | 5.8% | 5.4% | 0.4% | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of cumulative co₂ emissions from oil, China or Japan?
- China, at 6.1% against 5.4% in Japan as of 2024.
- What is the difference in share of cumulative co₂ emissions from oil between China and Japan?
- 0.7%, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and Japan?
- 118 years are reported by both, from 1907 to 2024.
- How do China and Japan rank globally for share of cumulative co₂ emissions from oil?
- China ranks 2nd and Japan ranks 4th of 215 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of cumulative CO₂ emissions from oil. 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 oil since the first year of available data, measured as a percentage of global cumulative emissions of CO₂ from oil.