World CO₂ Emissions Map — Interactive 1970–2024 Timeline
Quick answer: This is an interactive world CO₂ emissions map: fossil CO₂ emissions for 202 countries from 1970 to 2024, switchable between total emissions, per-capita footprint and world share, with a sector breakdown and a downloadable GeoJSON file.
About this dataset
Every country's fossil CO₂ emissions from 1970 to 2024 on an interactive map: switch between total emissions, per-capita footprint and share of the world total, scrub the timeline, and click any country for its sector-by-sector breakdown.
Explore world CO₂ emissions as an interactive map instead of a static table. Each country carries its full annual series from 1970 to 2024 — total fossil CO₂ in tons, per-capita emissions, year-over-year change, and share of the world total — plus a stacked breakdown by sector (power industry, transportation, industrial combustion, buildings, agriculture, fuel exploitation, industrial processes and waste). Switch the choropleth between total, per-capita and share, drag the year slider or press play to watch emissions change over five decades, and click any country for its sector mix and history curve. The same data downloads as GeoJSON with country polygons, ISO codes and the complete series, so it can be opened in QGIS or joined to your own boundaries.
Data source: Worldometer CO₂ emissions statistics
How to read the CO₂ emissions map
The map above shows every country's fossil CO₂ emissions for the year you select, from 1970 to 2024. Switch between total emissions, per-capita footprint and share of the world total; dragging the timeline (or pressing Play) re-colours the map year by year until it stops at 2024. Clicking a country opens its emissions history and its breakdown by sector, so you can see whether power generation, transport or industry drives the trend.
- 1 Switch the metric between total CO₂, per capita and world share — the ranking table and legend follow.
- 2 Drag the year slider or press Play to animate emissions from 1970 to 2024, then press Play again to replay.
- 3 Click a country to see its history curve and its eight-sector breakdown for the selected year.
- 4 Download the GeoJSON to open the same figures in QGIS or join them to your own boundaries.
Absolute emissions rank the largest economies first, while per-capita emissions tell a completely different story — small oil and gas producers sit at the top. Comparing the two is the quickest way to separate a country's size from its carbon intensity, and the 1970–2024 series shows whether emissions are still rising or have already peaked.
Top 10 CO₂ emitters in 2024
| Rank | Country | CO₂ (tons, 2024) | Per capita | World share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 13.12B tons | 9.13 t | 33.1% |
| 2 | United States | 4.63B tons | 13.59 t | 11.7% |
| 3 | India | 3.15B tons | 2.19 t | 8.00% |
| 4 | Russia | 2.01B tons | 14.06 t | 5.10% |
| 5 | Japan | 972.27M tons | 7.79 t | 2.50% |
| 6 | Iran | 828.99M tons | 9.62 t | 2.10% |
| 7 | Indonesia | 812.2M tons | 2.88 t | 2.00% |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | 652.51M tons | 17.73 t | 1.60% |
| 9 | South Korea | 588.01M tons | 11.29 t | 1.50% |
| 10 | Germany | 579.94M tons | 7.03 t | 1.50% |
Source: Worldometer — global CO₂ emissions statistics (fossil CO₂, 1970–2024). The interactive map covers all 202 countries and territories in the dataset; this snapshot lists the top 10.
How to download
- 1 Download the hosted GeoJSON file directly.
- 2 Open it in GeoDataViewer Studio, QGIS, or any GeoJSON reader to inspect the country attributes.
- 3 Use the `series` array for the 1970–2024 trend and `sectors` for the per-sector split.
FAQ
Which country emits the most CO₂?
China emits the most fossil CO₂ in absolute terms (about 13.1 billion tons in 2024), followed by the United States (about 4.6 billion tons) and India (about 3.2 billion tons) — switch the map to "Per capita" to see a very different ranking, led by small oil and gas states.
Is this a CO₂ emissions map or a table?
It is a map first. The page renders the data as an interactive choropleth you can switch between total emissions, per-capita emissions and share of the world total; dragging the year slider (or pressing Play) animates the map from 1970 to 2024, and clicking a country opens its sector breakdown and history curve.
Can I see CO₂ emissions per capita instead of totals?
Yes. The metric switcher recalculates the choropleth, the legend, the ranking table and the country detail card for per-capita emissions (tons of CO₂ per person), which is the fairest way to compare countries of very different sizes.
What is the sector breakdown on the map?
Each country page on Worldometer splits fossil CO₂ into eight sectors — power industry, industrial combustion, transportation, buildings, fuel exploitation, industrial processes, agriculture and waste — and the dataset carries that stacked series for all 55 years, so you can see which sector drives a country's emissions.
Which years are covered?
The interactive map and the download cover 1970 through 2024, the latest year in the Worldometer CO₂ series. Use the timeline to compare any two years, or the history curve in the country card to see the full trend.
Can I download the CO₂ emissions data as GeoJSON?
Yes — download co2-emissions.geojson (about 3 MB) with country polygons, ISO2/ISO3 codes, region, rank, total and per-capita emissions, world share, the 1970–2024 annual series, and the eight-sector breakdown. It is free, needs no registration, and opens in GeoDataViewer, QGIS or any GeoJSON reader.
Why are some small countries missing from the map?
The dataset ranks 207 countries and territories, but five — Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Gibraltar — have no separate polygon in the Natural Earth 50m boundary set and are therefore not drawn. Their emissions are parts of France or the United Kingdom in that boundary data.