Share of global CO₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa
South Africa: Share of global CO₂ consumption-based emissions was 0.9% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of global CO₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa, 1990–2023
Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa is 0.9%, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 0.7% on the previous year and down 15.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa peaked at 1.6% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2022.
That places South Africa 19th out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Share of global CO₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1.4% | — |
| 1991 | 1.4% | +2.1% |
| 1992 | 1.3% | -4.8% |
| 1993 | 1.4% | +5.2% |
| 1994 | 1.5% | +4.7% |
| 1995 | 1.5% | +4.3% |
| 1996 | 1.5% | -2.4% |
| 1997 | 1.6% | +5.3% |
| 1998 | 1.6% | -1.7% |
| 1999 | 1.5% | -2.8% |
| 2000 | 1.1% | -25.5% |
| 2001 | 1.1% | -5.1% |
| 2002 | 1.0% | -9.0% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | +2.5% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | +12.1% |
| 2005 | 1.0% | -10.4% |
| 2006 | 1.1% | +9.3% |
| 2007 | 1.1% | -0.8% |
| 2008 | 1.1% | -1.9% |
| 2009 | 1.1% | +5.5% |
| 2010 | 1.1% | -6.4% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 1.0% | -2.2% |
| 2013 | 1.0% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 1.0% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 1.0% | -3.0% |
| 2016 | 1.0% | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 1.0% | -3.5% |
| 2018 | 1.0% | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 1.0% | +2.4% |
| 2020 | 1.0% | -3.7% |
| 2021 | 0.9% | -6.7% |
| 2022 | 0.8% | -4.7% |
| 2023 | 0.9% | +0.7% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.2%, 4.6× the median. (32 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.0%, 25.6× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More climate change data for South Africa
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 717.27 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 34,365 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 11,741 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 22,624 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 44.31 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 807.99 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,495 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 5,119 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 376.6 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 19.32 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa?
- Share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions in South Africa was 0.9% in 2023, according to Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.6% in 1997.
- What is the lowest share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2022.
- How does South Africa rank for share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions?
- South Africa ranks 19th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of global co₂ consumption-based emissions rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of global CO₂ consumption-based emissions. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Annual consumption-based emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), measured as a percentage of global consumption-based emissions of CO₂ in the same year.