Japan vs South Africa: Share of global cumulative CO₂ emissions from coal
Japan
3.0%
in 2024
South Africa
2.3%
in 2024
Japan rank
7th
South Africa rank
9th
Share of global cumulative CO₂ emissions from coal over time
- Japan
- South Africa
How they compare
Japan currently reports 3.0% against 2.3% in South Africa, a difference of 0.7%.
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 | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | Japan |
| 1890s | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.2% | Japan |
| 1900s | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.4% | Japan |
| 1910s | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.6% | Japan |
| 1920s | 1.3% | 0.4% | 0.8% | Japan |
| 1930s | 1.6% | 0.5% | 1.1% | Japan |
| 1940s | 2.0% | 0.7% | 1.3% | Japan |
| 1950s | 2.1% | 0.8% | 1.3% | Japan |
| 1960s | 2.2% | 1.0% | 1.2% | Japan |
| 1970s | 2.5% | 1.2% | 1.2% | Japan |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 1.5% | 1.1% | Japan |
| 1990s | 2.8% | 1.8% | 0.9% | Japan |
| 2000s | 2.9% | 2.1% | 0.8% | Japan |
| 2010s | 3.0% | 2.3% | 0.7% | Japan |
| 2020s | 3.0% | 2.3% | 0.7% | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of global cumulative co₂ emissions from coal, Japan or South Africa?
- Japan, at 3.0% against 2.3% in South Africa as of 2024.
- What is the difference in share of global cumulative co₂ emissions from coal between Japan and South Africa?
- 0.7%, 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 share of global 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 Share of global 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 as a percentage of global cumulative emissions of CO₂ from coal.