Carbon emission intensity vs. GDP per capita in India
India: Carbon emission intensity vs. GDP per capita was 0.2308 in 2024. ▼ Falling
Carbon emission intensity vs. GDP per capita in India, 1990–2024
Source: Joint Research Centre (European Commission) and International Energy Agency (IEA), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
India recorded 0.2308 for carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.3% on the previous year and down 20.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita in India peaked at 0.3456 in 1991 and was at its lowest, 0.2308, in 2024.
India ranks 31st of 191 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Carbon emission intensity vs. GDP per capita in India, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.3245 | — |
| 1991 | 0.3456 | +6.5% |
| 1992 | 0.3394 | -1.8% |
| 1993 | 0.3386 | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 0.3374 | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 0.3359 | -0.5% |
| 1996 | 0.3268 | -2.7% |
| 1997 | 0.3307 | +1.2% |
| 1998 | 0.3196 | -3.4% |
| 1999 | 0.3135 | -1.9% |
| 2000 | 0.313 | -0.2% |
| 2001 | 0.3034 | -3.1% |
| 2002 | 0.3033 | -0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.2897 | -4.5% |
| 2004 | 0.2896 | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 0.2797 | -3.4% |
| 2006 | 0.2763 | -1.2% |
| 2007 | 0.2794 | +1.1% |
| 2008 | 0.2911 | +4.2% |
| 2009 | 0.2879 | -1.1% |
| 2010 | 0.2831 | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 0.287 | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 0.2972 | +3.5% |
| 2013 | 0.2873 | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 0.2888 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.2722 | -5.7% |
| 2016 | 0.2552 | -6.3% |
| 2017 | 0.2523 | -1.1% |
| 2018 | 0.2482 | -1.6% |
| 2019 | 0.2385 | -3.9% |
| 2020 | 0.2338 | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 0.235 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 0.2359 | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 0.2363 | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 0.2308 | -2.3% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 0.2308 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.1448, 1.6× the median. (45 countries reporting)
- India's 0.2308 is above the median for South Asia, which is 0.1175, 2.0× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.3312 | 0.3135 | 0.3456 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.2913 | 0.2763 | 0.313 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.271 | 0.2385 | 0.2972 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2344 | 0.2308 | 0.2363 | 5 |
Countries ranked near India
More climate change data for India
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 27.69 billion kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 602,760 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 105,678 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 497,082 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 398.78 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 17,753 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 279,594 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 176,015 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 103,578 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 664.21 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita in India?
- Carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita in India was 0.2308 in 2024, according to Joint Research Centre (European Commission) and International Energy Agency (IEA), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3456 in 1991.
- What is the lowest carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2308 in 2024.
- How does India rank for carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita?
- India ranks 31st out of 191 countries with data for 2024.
- Is carbon emission intensity vs. gdp per capita rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from Joint Research Centre (European Commission) and International Energy Agency (IEA), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Carbon emission intensity vs. GDP per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Carbon emission intensity is measured in kilograms of CO₂ per dollar of GDP. Emissions from fossil fuels and industry are included, but land-use change emissions are not. GDP per capita is adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.