Which has higher waste — emissions, United States or USSR?

United States, at 36.1 kt against 16.05 kt in USSR as of 2023.

What is the difference in waste — emissions between United States and USSR?

20.05 kt, with United States ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for United States and USSR?

31 years are reported by both, from 1961 to 1991.

Where does this data come from?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Waste — Emissions (N2O). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

United States vs USSR: Waste — Emissions

United States

36.1 kt

in 2023

USSR

16.05 kt

in 1991

United States rank

5th

USSR rank

6th

Waste — Emissions over time

United States
USSR

How they compare

United States currently reports 36.1 kt against 16.05 kt in USSR, a difference of 20.05 kt.

That makes United States's figure about 2.2 times USSR's.

Across all 31 years both countries report, United States has been ahead every year.

United States ranks 5th and USSR ranks 6th of 232 countries.

United States has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	United States	USSR	Difference	Ahead
1960s	14.11 kt	12.21 kt	1.9 kt	United States
1970s	16.94 kt	14.59 kt	2.35 kt	United States
1980s	19.13 kt	15.92 kt	3.21 kt	United States
1990s	21.3 kt	16.2 kt	5.1 kt	United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher waste — emissions, United States or USSR?: United States, at 36.1 kt against 16.05 kt in USSR as of 2023.
What is the difference in waste — emissions between United States and USSR?: 20.05 kt, with United States ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for United States and USSR?: 31 years are reported by both, from 1961 to 1991.
How do United States and USSR rank globally for waste — emissions?: United States ranks 5th and USSR ranks 6th of 232 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Waste — Emissions (N2O). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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United States vs USSR: Waste — Emissions. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/compare/waste-emissions-n2o-fao-tier-1/united-states/ussr/

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About this data

Indicator: Waste — Emissions (N2O)
Unit: kt
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage: 265 places, 15,268 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed: 17 September 2026

The FAOSTAT domain on Emissions Totals summarizes the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disseminated in the FAOSTAT Climate Change domains of emissions from agrifood 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). Emissions from other economic sectors as defined by the IPCC are also disseminated in the domain for completeness. Methodological details can be found at: https://files-faostat.fao.org/production/GT/GT_en.pdf