Waste — Emissions in Northern America

Northern America: Waste — Emissions was 5,697 kt in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
5,697 kt
Change on year
up 0.6%
Rank
14th
of 32 groups
All-time high
9,378 kt
in 1989
All-time low
5,187 kt
in 1961
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Waste — Emissions in Northern America, 1961–2023

02.0k4.0k6.0k8.0k10.0k196119922023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in kt.

Analysis

Northern America recorded 5,697 kt for waste — emissions in 2023.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, waste — emissions in Northern America peaked at 9,378 kt in 1989 and was at its lowest, 5,187 kt, in 1961.

Northern America ranks 14th of 32 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.

Waste — Emissions in Northern America, year by year

Annual values for Waste — Emissions (CH4) in Northern America, 1961 to 2023.
Year kt Change
1961 5,187 kt
1962 5,565 kt +7.3%
1963 5,953 kt +7.0%
1964 6,352 kt +6.7%
1965 6,762 kt +6.5%
1966 7,183 kt +6.2%
1967 7,606 kt +5.9%
1968 8,049 kt +5.8%
1969 8,503 kt +5.6%
1970 8,105 kt -4.7%
1971 8,682 kt +7.1%
1972 8,754 kt +0.8%
1973 8,815 kt +0.7%
1974 8,855 kt +0.5%
1975 8,859 kt +0.0%
1976 8,984 kt +1.4%
1977 9,063 kt +0.9%
1978 9,139 kt +0.8%
1979 9,197 kt +0.6%
1980 9,256 kt +0.6%
1981 9,283 kt +0.3%
1982 9,284 kt +0.0%
1983 9,319 kt +0.4%
1984 9,315 kt -0.0%
1985 9,301 kt -0.2%
1986 9,323 kt +0.2%
1987 9,360 kt +0.4%
1988 9,370 kt +0.1%
1989 9,378 kt +0.1%
1990 9,072 kt -3.3%
1991 9,068 kt -0.0%
1992 9,096 kt +0.3%
1993 8,999 kt -1.1%
1994 8,954 kt -0.5%
1995 8,587 kt -4.1%
1996 8,318 kt -3.1%
1997 7,856 kt -5.6%
1998 7,512 kt -4.4%
1999 7,288 kt -3.0%
2000 7,158 kt -1.8%
2001 6,120 kt -14.5%
2002 5,857 kt -4.3%
2003 6,005 kt +2.5%
2004 5,889 kt -1.9%
2005 6,136 kt +4.2%
2006 6,294 kt +2.6%
2007 6,455 kt +2.6%
2008 6,658 kt +3.1%
2009 6,115 kt -8.2%
2010 5,534 kt -9.5%
2011 5,356 kt -3.2%
2012 5,208 kt -2.8%
2013 5,213 kt +0.1%
2014 5,294 kt +1.6%
2015 5,418 kt +2.3%
2016 5,446 kt +0.5%
2017 5,486 kt +0.7%
2018 5,548 kt +1.1%
2019 5,587 kt +0.7%
2020 5,600 kt +0.2%
2021 5,619 kt +0.3%
2022 5,662 kt +0.8%
2023 5,697 kt +0.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 6,796 kt 5,187 kt 8,503 kt 9
1970s 8,845 kt 8,105 kt 9,197 kt 10
1980s 9,319 kt 9,256 kt 9,378 kt 10
1990s 8,475 kt 7,288 kt 9,096 kt 10
2000s 6,269 kt 5,857 kt 7,158 kt 10
2010s 5,409 kt 5,208 kt 5,587 kt 10
2020s 5,644 kt 5,600 kt 5,697 kt 4

Countries ranked near Northern America

  1. 11 Nigeria 1,060 kt compare
  2. 12 Thailand 906 kt compare
  3. 13 Pakistan 820 kt compare
  4. 14 Colombia 759 kt compare
  5. 15 Canada 757 kt compare
  6. 16 South Africa 751 kt compare
  7. 17 Morocco 702 kt compare

See the full ranking of 253 places →

More climate change data for Northern America

All data for Northern America →

Frequently asked questions

What is waste — emissions in Northern America?
Waste — emissions in Northern America was 5,697 kt in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest waste — emissions recorded in Northern America?
The highest recorded value was 9,378 kt in 1989.
What is the lowest waste — emissions recorded in Northern America?
The lowest recorded value was 5,187 kt in 1961.
How does Northern America rank for waste — emissions?
Northern America ranks 14th out of 32 groups with data for 2023.
Is waste — emissions rising or falling in Northern America?
Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Northern America data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Waste — Emissions (CH4). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Waste — Emissions in Northern America. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/waste-emissions-ch4-fao-tier-1/northern-america/

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About this data

Indicator
Waste — Emissions (CH4)
Unit
kt
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
253 places, 14,574 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT domain on Emissions Totals summarizes the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disseminated in the FAOSTAT Climate Change domains of emissions from agrifood systems. Data are computed following the Tier 1 methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National greenhouse gas (GHG) Inventories (IPCC, 1996; 1997; 2000; 2002; 2006; 2014). Emissions from other economic sectors as defined by the IPCC are also disseminated in the domain for completeness. Methodological details can be found at: https://files-faostat.fao.org/production/GT/GT_en.pdf