Cumulative CO₂ emissions from flaring in South Africa
South Africa: Cumulative CO₂ emissions from flaring was 4.21 million tonnes in 2024. ▲ Rising
Cumulative CO₂ emissions from flaring in South Africa, 1994–2024
Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
In 2024, cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring in South Africa stood at 4.21 million tonnes. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 10.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring in South Africa peaked at 4.21 million tonnes in 2024 and was at its lowest, 124,170 tonnes, in 1994.
South Africa ranks 80th of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 521,138 tonnes | 124,170 tonnes | 1.02 million tonnes | 6 |
| 2000s | 2.37 million tonnes | 1.27 million tonnes | 3.30 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.80 million tonnes | 3.49 million tonnes | 4.02 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.16 million tonnes | 4.07 million tonnes | 4.21 million tonnes | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More climate change data for South Africa
- Share of global CO₂ emissions and population 0.9% (2100)
- Population growth 1.1% (2025)
- Population, total 64.75 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 1.3% (2025)
- Urban population 41.32 million (2025)
- Urban population 63.8% (2025)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. GDP per capita 6.87 tonnes per person (2024)
- Cumulative CO₂ emissions 22.83 billion tonnes (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita 6.87 tonnes per person (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. share of electricity generation from renewables 6.87 tonnes per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring in South Africa?
- Cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring in South Africa was 4.21 million tonnes in 2024, according to Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 4.21 million tonnes in 2024.
- What is the lowest cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 124,170 tonnes in 1994.
- How does South Africa rank for cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring?
- South Africa ranks 80th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cumulative co₂ emissions from flaring rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 Cumulative CO₂ emissions from flaring. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from flaring since the first year of available data, measured in tonnes.