Per capita methane emissions in Australia
Australia: Per capita methane emissions was 5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
Change on year
down 4.9%
World rank
9th
of 199 countries
All-time high
12.17 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
in 1976
All-time low
5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person
in 2024
Years of data
175
1850–2024
Per capita methane emissions in Australia, 1850–2024
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
Australia recorded 5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person for per capita methane emissions in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 175 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.9% on the previous year and down 27.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, per capita methane emissions in Australia peaked at 12.17 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1976 and was at its lowest, 5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person, in 2024.
That places Australia 9th out of 199 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 175 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1850s | 6.32 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 5.53 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 6.57 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1860s | 6.86 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 6.48 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 7.24 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1870s | 7.55 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 7.29 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 7.78 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1880s | 7.95 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 7.85 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.01 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1890s | 7.96 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 7.93 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1900s | 8.43 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.64 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1910s | 8.76 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.63 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.98 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1920s | 8.66 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.4 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.81 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1930s | 8.51 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.22 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.97 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1940s | 9.34 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.88 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 9.59 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1950s | 10.24 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 9.87 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10.63 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1960s | 10.98 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10.72 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 11.35 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1970s | 11.18 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10.18 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 12.17 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1980s | 9.68 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.71 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 11.15 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.95 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.33 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 9.56 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 2000s | 8.27 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 6.91 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10.19 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.92 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 5.88 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 8.62 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.28 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 5.42 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person | 5 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 6 New Zealand 6.64 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
- 7 Oman 6.22 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
- 8 Gabon 5.64 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
- 10 Guyana 4.71 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
- 11 Botswana 4.06 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
- 12 Libya 3.82 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person compare
More climate change data for Australia
- Share of global CO₂ emissions and population 0.4% (2100)
- Population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Population, total 27.61 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 1.7% (2025)
- Urban population 24.22 million (2025)
- Urban population 87.7% (2025)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. GDP per capita 14.48 tonnes per person (2024)
- Cumulative CO₂ emissions 20.04 billion tonnes (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita 14.48 tonnes per person (2024)
- CO₂ emissions per capita vs. share of electricity generation from renewables 14.48 tonnes per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is per capita methane emissions in Australia?
- Per capita methane emissions in Australia was 5.08 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 methane emissions recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 12.17 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 1976.
- What is the lowest per capita methane emissions recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.08 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per person in 2024.
- How does Australia rank for per capita methane emissions?
- Australia ranks 9th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
- Is per capita methane emissions rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 27.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia 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 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 per person of carbon dioxide-equivalents over a 100-year timescale.