Methane emissions in North Korea
North Korea: Methane emissions was 18.97 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
18.97 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents
Change on year
down 5.8%
World rank
77th
of 199 countries
All-time high
30.00 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents
in 1985
All-time low
6.24 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents
in 1953
Years of data
175
1850–2024
Methane emissions in North Korea, 1850–2024
Source: Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes of CO₂ equivalents.
Analysis
North Korea recorded 18.97 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents for methane emissions in 2024.
That represents a change of down 5.8% on the previous year and down 22.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, methane emissions in North Korea peaked at 30.00 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in 1985 and was at its lowest, 6.24 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, in 1953.
North Korea ranks 77th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 175 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1850s | 10.79 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.78 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.81 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1860s | 10.83 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.82 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.85 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1870s | 10.95 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.85 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 11.06 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1880s | 11.04 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 11.00 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 11.08 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1890s | 10.95 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.91 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.99 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1900s | 10.89 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.88 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.90 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1910s | 11.09 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10.88 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 11.42 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1920s | 12.36 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 11.51 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 13.16 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1930s | 13.94 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 13.34 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 14.53 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1940s | 11.14 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 8.46 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 14.68 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1950s | 7.04 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 6.24 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 8.43 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1960s | 11.12 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 8.98 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 14.01 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1970s | 19.37 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 16.56 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 24.58 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1980s | 28.34 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 25.65 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 30.00 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 1990s | 23.71 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 20.97 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 27.62 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 2000s | 24.70 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 23.43 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 26.56 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.06 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 21.78 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 25.60 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.55 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 18.97 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 22.53 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents | 5 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
- 74 Zambia 21.14 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compare
- 75 Ghana 19.53 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compare
- 76 Netherlands 19.05 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compare
- 78 Chile 18.64 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compare
- 79 Belarus 18.58 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compare
- 80 Guatemala 18.39 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compare
More climate change data for North Korea
- Share of global CO₂ emissions and population 0.2% (2100)
- Population growth 0.3% (2025)
- Population, total 26.57 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.8% (2025)
- Urban population 17.06 million (2025)
- Urban population 64.2% (2025)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. GDP per capita 2.36 tonnes per person (2024)
- Cumulative CO₂ emissions 5.49 billion tonnes (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita 2.36 tonnes per person (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. share of electricity generation from renewables 2.36 tonnes per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is methane emissions in North Korea?
- Methane emissions in North Korea was 18.97 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in 2024, according to Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest methane emissions recorded in North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 30.00 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in 1985.
- What is the lowest methane emissions recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.24 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in 1953.
- How does North Korea rank for methane emissions?
- North Korea ranks 77th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
- Is methane emissions rising or falling in North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 22.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Methane emissions. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 175 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalents over a 100-year timescale.