Energy — Emissions in China, mainland

China, mainland: Energy — Emissions was 26,500 kt in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
26,500 kt
Change on year
up 2.3%
World rank
2nd
of 199 countries
All-time high
26,500 kt
in 2023
All-time low
4,650 kt
in 1967
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Energy — Emissions in China, mainland, 1961–2023

5.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k25.0k196119922023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in kt.

Analysis

The most recent figure for energy — emissions in China, mainland is 26,500 kt, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.3% on the previous year and up 16.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, energy — emissions in China, mainland peaked at 26,500 kt in 2023 and was at its lowest, 4,650 kt, in 1967.

China, mainland ranks 2nd of 199 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.

Energy — Emissions in China, mainland, year by year

Annual values for Energy — Emissions (CH4) in China, mainland, 1961 to 2023.
Year kt Change
1961 5,350 kt
1962 4,700 kt -12.1%
1963 4,700 kt +0.0%
1964 4,690 kt -0.2%
1965 4,890 kt +4.3%
1966 5,140 kt +5.1%
1967 4,650 kt -9.5%
1968 4,860 kt +4.5%
1969 5,420 kt +11.5%
1970 6,630 kt +22.3%
1971 6,590 kt -0.6%
1972 6,830 kt +3.6%
1973 6,940 kt +1.6%
1974 6,940 kt +0.0%
1975 7,710 kt +11.1%
1976 7,770 kt +0.8%
1977 8,490 kt +9.3%
1978 9,190 kt +8.2%
1979 9,360 kt +1.8%
1980 9,200 kt -1.7%
1981 9,210 kt +0.1%
1982 9,590 kt +4.1%
1983 10,000 kt +4.3%
1984 10,700 kt +7.0%
1985 10,900 kt +1.9%
1986 11,200 kt +2.8%
1987 11,400 kt +1.8%
1988 11,900 kt +4.4%
1989 12,400 kt +4.2%
1990 12,700 kt +2.4%
1991 12,600 kt -0.8%
1992 12,600 kt +0.0%
1993 12,600 kt +0.0%
1994 13,000 kt +3.2%
1995 13,800 kt +6.2%
1996 13,700 kt -0.7%
1997 13,500 kt -1.5%
1998 12,900 kt -4.4%
1999 12,600 kt -2.3%
2000 12,900 kt +2.4%
2001 13,400 kt +3.9%
2002 13,700 kt +2.2%
2003 15,400 kt +12.4%
2004 16,900 kt +9.7%
2005 18,200 kt +7.7%
2006 19,300 kt +6.0%
2007 19,700 kt +2.1%
2008 19,500 kt -1.0%
2009 19,800 kt +1.5%
2010 20,800 kt +5.1%
2011 23,200 kt +11.5%
2012 22,800 kt -1.7%
2013 22,800 kt +0.0%
2014 22,700 kt -0.4%
2015 22,300 kt -1.8%
2016 20,500 kt -8.1%
2017 21,100 kt +2.9%
2018 22,000 kt +4.3%
2019 22,600 kt +2.7%
2020 22,900 kt +1.3%
2021 24,100 kt +5.2%
2022 25,900 kt +7.5%
2023 26,500 kt +2.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 4,933 kt 4,650 kt 5,420 kt 9
1970s 7,645 kt 6,590 kt 9,360 kt 10
1980s 10,650 kt 9,200 kt 12,400 kt 10
1990s 13,000 kt 12,600 kt 13,800 kt 10
2000s 16,880 kt 12,900 kt 19,800 kt 10
2010s 22,080 kt 20,500 kt 23,200 kt 10
2020s 24,850 kt 22,900 kt 26,500 kt 4

Countries ranked near China, mainland

  1. 1 China (People’s Republic of) 26,548 kt compare
  2. 3 OECD 23,587 kt compare
  3. 4 USSR 11,328 kt compare
  4. 5 Russian Federation 9,140 kt compare

See the full ranking of 250 places →

More climate change data for China, mainland

All data for China, mainland →

Frequently asked questions

What is energy — emissions in China, mainland?
Energy — emissions in China, mainland was 26,500 kt in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest energy — emissions recorded in China, mainland?
The highest recorded value was 26,500 kt in 2023.
What is the lowest energy — emissions recorded in China, mainland?
The lowest recorded value was 4,650 kt in 1967.
How does China, mainland rank for energy — emissions?
China, mainland ranks 2nd out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
Is energy — emissions rising or falling in China, mainland?
Over the last ten years it is up 16.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this China, mainland data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Energy — Emissions (CH4). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Energy — Emissions in China, mainland. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/energy-emissions-ch4-fao-tier-1/china-mainland/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/energy-emissions-ch4-fao-tier-1/china-mainland/">Energy — Emissions in China, mainland</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Energy — Emissions (CH4)
Unit
kt
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
250 places, 14,415 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed

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