Share of global nitrous oxide emissions in United States

United States: Share of global nitrous oxide emissions was 8.2% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
8.2%
Change on year
down 0.9%
World rank
3rd
of 201 countries
All-time high
22.2%
in 1870
All-time low
8.2%
in 2024
Years of data
175
1850–2024

Share of global nitrous oxide emissions in United States, 1850–2024

05101520185019372024

Source: Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

United States recorded 8.2% for share of global nitrous oxide emissions in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 175 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and down 11.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of global nitrous oxide emissions in United States peaked at 22.2% in 1870 and was at its lowest, 8.2%, in 2024.

United States ranks 3rd of 201 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 22.0% 22.0% 22.1% 10
1860s 22.1% 22.0% 22.2% 10
1870s 21.7% 21.3% 22.2% 10
1880s 21.2% 21.2% 21.2% 10
1890s 21.0% 20.9% 21.3% 10
1900s 21.0% 21.0% 21.0% 10
1910s 20.5% 19.9% 20.9% 10
1920s 18.5% 17.3% 19.7% 10
1930s 17.2% 17.1% 17.4% 10
1940s 16.0% 14.8% 17.4% 10
1950s 15.0% 14.7% 15.5% 10
1960s 16.3% 15.5% 16.8% 10
1970s 15.5% 14.3% 16.3% 10
1980s 12.4% 11.5% 13.7% 10
1990s 11.3% 10.9% 11.7% 10
2000s 10.5% 9.8% 11.2% 10
2010s 9.2% 8.7% 9.8% 10
2020s 8.3% 8.2% 8.5% 5

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 1 China 16.2% compare
  2. 2 India 10.6% compare
  3. 4 Brazil 6.9% compare
  4. 5 Russia 2.9% compare
  5. 6 Pakistan 2.4% compare

See the full ranking of 201 places →

More climate change data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of global nitrous oxide emissions in United States?
Share of global nitrous oxide emissions in United States was 8.2% in 2024, according to Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of global nitrous oxide emissions recorded in United States?
The highest recorded value was 22.2% in 1870.
What is the lowest share of global nitrous oxide emissions recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 8.2% in 2024.
How does United States rank for share of global nitrous oxide emissions?
United States ranks 3rd out of 201 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of global nitrous oxide emissions rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 11.6%. 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) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of global nitrous oxide 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
Share of global nitrous oxide emissions
Unit
%
Source
Jones et al. (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
201 places, 35,175 data points, 1850–2024
Last refreshed

Measured as a percentage of the world's nitrous oxide emissions.