Share of global CO₂ emissions from coal in China
China: Share of global CO₂ emissions from coal was 56.2% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of global CO₂ emissions from coal in China, 1907–2024
Source: Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
China recorded 56.2% for share of global co₂ emissions from coal in 2024. That is the highest value across all 118 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 13.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global co₂ emissions from coal in China peaked at 56.2% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 1912.
That places China 1st out of 179 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of global CO₂ emissions from coal in China, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1907 | 0.7% | — |
| 1908 | 0.9% | +19.7% |
| 1909 | 0.9% | +2.6% |
| 1910 | 0.9% | -1.6% |
| 1911 | 0.8% | -2.8% |
| 1912 | 0.6% | -34.2% |
| 1913 | 0.7% | +31.9% |
| 1914 | 0.9% | +22.5% |
| 1915 | 0.9% | -2.8% |
| 1916 | 1.0% | +9.9% |
| 1917 | 1.0% | +2.0% |
| 1918 | 1.1% | +10.2% |
| 1919 | 1.4% | +29.3% |
| 1920 | 1.3% | -8.0% |
| 1921 | 1.5% | +12.8% |
| 1922 | 1.4% | -0.6% |
| 1923 | 1.5% | +2.5% |
| 1924 | 1.5% | +4.8% |
| 1925 | 1.5% | -5.9% |
| 1926 | 1.4% | -2.9% |
| 1927 | 1.4% | -3.8% |
| 1928 | 1.4% | +5.6% |
| 1929 | 1.4% | -4.8% |
| 1930 | 1.5% | +12.1% |
| 1931 | 1.8% | +18.8% |
| 1932 | 2.0% | +8.7% |
| 1933 | 2.0% | +2.8% |
| 1934 | 2.2% | +5.7% |
| 1935 | 2.4% | +11.6% |
| 1936 | 2.3% | -5.7% |
| 1937 | 2.0% | -11.0% |
| 1938 | 1.9% | -7.2% |
| 1939 | 2.1% | +13.5% |
| 1940 | 2.3% | +10.0% |
| 1941 | 2.9% | +22.7% |
| 1942 | 3.2% | +11.0% |
| 1943 | 2.7% | -14.1% |
| 1944 | 2.6% | -3.7% |
| 1945 | 1.8% | -30.0% |
| 1946 | 1.1% | -40.0% |
| 1947 | 1.1% | +3.5% |
| 1948 | 1.0% | -11.1% |
| 1949 | 1.7% | +70.1% |
| 1950 | 2.0% | +15.5% |
| 1951 | 2.5% | +22.6% |
| 1952 | 3.1% | +27.0% |
| 1953 | 3.2% | +3.0% |
| 1954 | 3.8% | +19.7% |
| 1955 | 4.2% | +8.8% |
| 1956 | 4.4% | +6.5% |
| 1957 | 5.2% | +16.8% |
| 1958 | 10.7% | +105.4% |
| 1959 | 14.0% | +31.5% |
| 1960 | 14.5% | +3.3% |
| 1961 | 10.6% | -27.2% |
| 1962 | 8.4% | -20.9% |
| 1963 | 8.0% | -4.9% |
| 1964 | 7.7% | -3.1% |
| 1965 | 8.2% | +6.3% |
| 1966 | 8.8% | +7.3% |
| 1967 | 7.3% | -17.0% |
| 1968 | 7.8% | +6.4% |
| 1969 | 9.1% | +17.1% |
| 1970 | 11.7% | +28.6% |
| 1971 | 12.9% | +10.6% |
| 1972 | 13.5% | +4.8% |
| 1973 | 13.4% | -1.3% |
| 1974 | 13.2% | -0.9% |
| 1975 | 15.1% | +13.7% |
| 1976 | 14.6% | -2.9% |
| 1977 | 15.7% | +7.1% |
| 1978 | 17.2% | +9.6% |
| 1979 | 16.9% | -1.7% |
| 1980 | 16.1% | -4.8% |
| 1981 | 16.2% | +0.8% |
| 1982 | 17.7% | +9.1% |
| 1983 | 18.2% | +2.9% |
| 1984 | 19.2% | +5.4% |
| 1985 | 19.5% | +1.5% |
| 1986 | 20.1% | +3.1% |
| 1987 | 20.7% | +3.2% |
| 1988 | 21.4% | +3.4% |
| 1989 | 21.8% | +1.6% |
| 1990 | 22.8% | +5.0% |
| 1991 | 23.9% | +4.7% |
| 1992 | 25.3% | +5.8% |
| 1993 | 26.3% | +4.0% |
| 1994 | 28.0% | +6.3% |
| 1995 | 29.3% | +4.9% |
| 1996 | 29.6% | +1.0% |
| 1997 | 29.2% | -1.4% |
| 1998 | 28.1% | -3.7% |
| 1999 | 29.3% | +4.1% |
| 2000 | 28.4% | -3.0% |
| 2001 | 28.6% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 31.3% | +9.4% |
| 2003 | 34.4% | +9.8% |
| 2004 | 35.5% | +3.1% |
| 2005 | 38.5% | +8.5% |
| 2006 | 40.4% | +5.0% |
| 2007 | 41.6% | +2.9% |
| 2008 | 43.6% | +4.8% |
| 2009 | 46.4% | +6.4% |
| 2010 | 47.2% | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 49.7% | +5.3% |
| 2012 | 50.2% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 50.1% | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 49.5% | -1.3% |
| 2015 | 49.6% | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 49.4% | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 49.4% | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 49.6% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 51.2% | +3.2% |
| 2020 | 53.8% | +5.2% |
| 2021 | 53.5% | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 54.8% | +2.5% |
| 2023 | 55.9% | +2.0% |
| 2024 | 56.2% | +0.6% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 56.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.0%, 4374.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- China's 56.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.1%, 783.1× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of global CO₂ emissions from coal in China changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | +105.4% | 5.2% | 10.7% |
| 1949 | +70.1% | 1.0% | 1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 3 |
| 1910s | 0.9% | 0.6% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 1920s | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 1930s | 2.0% | 1.5% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 1940s | 2.1% | 1.0% | 3.2% | 10 |
| 1950s | 5.3% | 2.0% | 14.0% | 10 |
| 1960s | 9.0% | 7.3% | 14.5% | 10 |
| 1970s | 14.4% | 11.7% | 17.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 19.1% | 16.1% | 21.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 27.2% | 22.8% | 29.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 36.9% | 28.4% | 46.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 49.6% | 47.2% | 51.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 54.8% | 53.5% | 56.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near China
More climate change data for China
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 31.25 billion kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 604,831 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 191,478 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 413,353 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 722.56 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 14,763 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 342,069 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 200,605 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 141,464 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 757 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global co₂ emissions from coal in China?
- Share of global co₂ emissions from coal in China was 56.2% in 2024, according to Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of global co₂ emissions from coal recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 56.2% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of global co₂ emissions from coal recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 1912.
- How does China rank for share of global co₂ emissions from coal?
- China ranks 1st out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of global co₂ emissions from coal rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of global CO₂ emissions from coal. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 118 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal, measured as a percentage of global emissions of CO₂ from coal in the same year.