Cumulative CO₂ emissions from oil in China
China: Cumulative CO₂ emissions from oil was 39.19 billion tonnes in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Cumulative CO₂ emissions from oil in China, 1907–2024
Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
China recorded 39.19 billion tonnes for cumulative co₂ emissions from oil in 2024. That is the highest value across all 118 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.5% on the previous year and up 63.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cumulative co₂ emissions from oil in China peaked at 39.19 billion tonnes in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0 tonnes, in 1907.
That places China 2nd out of 215 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 tonnes | 0 tonnes | 0 tonnes | 3 |
| 1910s | 0 tonnes | 0 tonnes | 0 tonnes | 10 |
| 1920s | 9,526 tonnes | 0 tonnes | 40,302 tonnes | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.77 million tonnes | 194,190 tonnes | 4.70 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1940s | 11.85 million tonnes | 6.49 million tonnes | 14.10 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1950s | 33.00 million tonnes | 14.72 million tonnes | 76.16 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1960s | 234.07 million tonnes | 99.15 million tonnes | 431.79 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.33 billion tonnes | 526.44 million tonnes | 2.39 billion tonnes | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.91 billion tonnes | 2.66 billion tonnes | 5.32 billion tonnes | 10 |
| 1990s | 7.61 billion tonnes | 5.65 billion tonnes | 9.93 billion tonnes | 10 |
| 2000s | 14.07 billion tonnes | 10.58 billion tonnes | 18.09 billion tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.85 billion tonnes | 19.18 billion tonnes | 31.15 billion tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.86 billion tonnes | 32.67 billion tonnes | 39.19 billion tonnes | 5 |
Countries ranked near China
More climate change data for China
- Share of global CO₂ emissions and population 6.2% (2100)
- Population growth -0.2% (2025)
- Population, total 1.41 billion (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.5% (2025)
- Urban population 933.17 million (2025)
- Urban population 66.3% (2025)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. GDP per capita 8.66 tonnes per person (2024)
- Cumulative CO₂ emissions 285.09 billion tonnes (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita 8.66 tonnes per person (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. share of electricity generation from renewables 8.66 tonnes per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cumulative co₂ emissions from oil in China?
- Cumulative co₂ emissions from oil in China was 39.19 billion 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 oil recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 39.19 billion tonnes in 2024.
- What is the lowest cumulative co₂ emissions from oil recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 tonnes in 1907.
- How does China rank for cumulative co₂ emissions from oil?
- China ranks 2nd out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cumulative co₂ emissions from oil rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 63.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this China 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 oil. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 118 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from oil since the first year of available data, measured in tonnes.