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Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in United States

United States: Per capita greenhouse gas emissions was 17.53 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
17.53 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
Change on year
down 1.0%
World rank
15th
of 199 countries
All-time high
35.77 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
in 1879
All-time low
16.96 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
in 2020
Years of data
175
1850–2024

Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in United States, 1850–2024

010203040185019372024

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

In 2024, per capita greenhouse gas emissions in United States stood at 17.53 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person.

That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and down 14.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, per capita greenhouse gas emissions in United States peaked at 35.77 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1879 and was at its lowest, 16.96 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person, in 2020.

United States ranks 15th of 199 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 175 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1850s 34.27 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 32.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 34.97 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1860s 25.91 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 22.66 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 31.21 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1870s 33.03 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 28.29 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 35.77 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1880s 30.94 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 28.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 33.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1890s 30.34 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 29.68 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 31.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1900s 31 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 30.11 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 32.97 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1910s 30.72 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 28.58 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 32.22 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1920s 28.83 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 27.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 31.21 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1930s 21.62 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 19.84 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 25.4 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1940s 25.32 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 22.96 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 26.97 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1950s 23.14 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 22.04 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 24.3 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1960s 23.98 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 21.37 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 27.99 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1970s 27.79 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 26.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 28.81 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1980s 24.91 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 23.93 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 26.84 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
1990s 25.09 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 24.77 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 25.61 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
2000s 24.19 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 21.36 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 25.64 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
2010s 19.95 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 18.83 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 21.94 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 10
2020s 17.67 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 16.96 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 18.16 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person 5

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 12 Belize 19.06 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  2. 13 Russia 18.85 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  3. 14 Kazakhstan 18.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  4. 16 Palau 16.58 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  5. 17 Guyana 16.11 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
  6. 18 Turkmenistan 15.79 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare

See the full ranking of 199 places →

More climate change data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is per capita greenhouse gas emissions in United States?
Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in United States was 17.53 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 United States?
The highest recorded value was 35.77 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1879.
What is the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 16.96 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 2020.
How does United States rank for per capita greenhouse gas emissions?
United States ranks 15th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
Is per capita greenhouse gas emissions rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States 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.