Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in Germany

Germany: Per capita greenhouse gas emissions was 7.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
7.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
Change on year
down 3.5%
World rank
57th
of 199 countries
All-time high
17.32 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
in 1979
All-time low
2.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
in 1850
Years of data
175
1850–2024

Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, 1850–2024

051015185019372024

Source: Jones et al. (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person.

Analysis

Germany recorded 7.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person for per capita greenhouse gas emissions in 2024.

That represents a change of down 3.5% on the previous year and down 29.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, per capita greenhouse gas emissions in Germany peaked at 17.32 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1979 and was at its lowest, 2.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person, in 1850.

Germany ranks 57th 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

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1850s 2.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 2.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 2.71 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1860s 3.19 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 2.72 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 3.61 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1870s 3.87 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 3.3 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 4.13 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1880s 5.04 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 4.44 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 5.73 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1890s 6.4 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 5.87 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 7.27 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1900s 8.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 7.34 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 9.01 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1910s 9.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 7.68 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10.15 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1920s 8.62 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 6.65 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 9.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1930s 8.45 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 6.58 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10.95 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1940s 8.53 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 3.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 11.51 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1950s 12.02 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 9.51 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 13.54 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1960s 15.24 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 13.82 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 16.58 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1970s 16.46 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 15.67 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 17.32 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1980s 16.12 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 15.53 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 17.05 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1990s 14.04 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 12.79 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 15.82 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
2000s 12.27 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 11.19 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 12.85 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
2010s 11.01 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 9.67 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 11.68 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
2020s 8.61 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 7.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 9.26 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 5

Countries ranked near Germany

  1. 54 Netherlands 8.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  2. 55 Laos 7.9 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  3. 56 Czechia 7.87 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  4. 58 Turkey 7.77 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  5. 59 Antigua and Barbuda 7.73 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  6. 60 Denmark 7.69 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare

See the full ranking of 199 places →

More climate change data for Germany

All data for Germany →

Frequently asked questions

What is per capita greenhouse gas emissions in Germany?
Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in Germany was 7.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 2024, according to Jones et al. (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions recorded in Germany?
The highest recorded value was 17.32 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1979.
What is the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions recorded in Germany?
The lowest recorded value was 2.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1850.
How does Germany rank for per capita greenhouse gas emissions?
Germany ranks 57th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
Is per capita greenhouse gas emissions rising or falling in Germany?
Over the last ten years it is down 29.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Germany data come from?
The figures come from Jones et al. (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Per capita greenhouse gas 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

Indicator
Per capita greenhouse gas emissions
Unit
tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
Source
Jones et al. (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
199 places, 34,079 data points, 1850–2024
Last refreshed

Greenhouse gas emissions are measured in tonnes per person of carbon dioxide-equivalents over a 100-year timescale.