Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food was 0.6% in 2015. ▼ Falling

Latest (2015)
0.6%
Change on year
down 3.0%
World rank
37th
of 217 countries
All-time high
1.0%
in 1996
All-time low
0.6%
in 2015
Years of data
26
1990–2015

Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom, 1990–2015

00.20.40.60.811990200220151990: 0.966 %1991: 0.953 %1992: 0.948 %1993: 0.942 %1994: 0.944 %1995: 0.924 %1996: 0.967 %1997: 0.893 %1998: 0.902 %1999: 0.896 %2000: 0.89 %2001: 0.909 %2002: 0.838 %2003: 0.848 %2004: 0.8 %2005: 0.792 %2006: 0.769 %2007: 0.77 %2008: 0.742 %2009: 0.69 %2010: 0.693 %2011: 0.686 %2012: 0.687 %2013: 0.675 %2014: 0.649 %2015: 0.63 %

Source: Crippa et al. (2021) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2015, share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom stood at 0.6%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.0% on the previous year and down 20.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom peaked at 1.0% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 2015.

United Kingdom ranks 37th of 217 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.

Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom, year by year

Annual values for Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom, 1990 to 2015.
Year % Change
1990 1.0%
1991 1.0% -1.3%
1992 0.9% -0.6%
1993 0.9% -0.6%
1994 0.9% +0.3%
1995 0.9% -2.1%
1996 1.0% +4.6%
1997 0.9% -7.7%
1998 0.9% +1.0%
1999 0.9% -0.7%
2000 0.9% -0.7%
2001 0.9% +2.1%
2002 0.8% -7.8%
2003 0.8% +1.3%
2004 0.8% -5.7%
2005 0.8% -1.0%
2006 0.8% -2.9%
2007 0.8% +0.0%
2008 0.7% -3.5%
2009 0.7% -7.1%
2010 0.7% +0.4%
2011 0.7% -0.9%
2012 0.7% +0.1%
2013 0.7% -1.8%
2014 0.6% -3.8%
2015 0.6% -3.0%

United Kingdom compared with similar countries

  • United Kingdom's 0.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.1%, 8.6× the median. (77 countries reporting)
  • United Kingdom's 0.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.1%, 5.4× the median. (49 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.9% 0.9% 1.0% 10
2000s 0.8% 0.7% 0.9% 10
2010s 0.7% 0.6% 0.7% 6

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 34 Bolivia 0.7% compare
  2. 35 Colombia 0.6% compare
  3. 36 Papua New Guinea 0.6% compare
  4. 38 Poland 0.6% compare
  5. 39 South Africa 0.6% compare
  6. 40 Italy 0.6% compare

See the full ranking of 217 places →

More climate change data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom?
Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom was 0.6% in 2015, according to Crippa et al. (2021) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food recorded in United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 1996.
What is the lowest share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 2015.
How does United Kingdom rank for share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food?
United Kingdom ranks 37th out of 217 countries with data for 2015.
Is share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is down 20.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
The figures come from Crippa et al. (2021) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food in United Kingdom. Statizoid, drawing on Crippa et al. (2021) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 September 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/share-global-food-emissions/united-kingdom/

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About this data

Indicator
Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from food
Unit
%
Source
Crippa et al. (2021) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
217 places, 5,642 data points, 1990–2015
Last refreshed

Food system emissions include agriculture, land-use change, and supply chain emissions (transport, packaging, food processing, retail, cooking, and waste). Emissions are quantified based on food production, not consumption. This means they do not account for international trade.