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Environment

Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e)

A measure of annual emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the waste sector. This includes emissions from solid waste (IPCC 2006 codes 4.A Solid Waste Disposal, 4.B Biological Treatment of Solid Waste, 4.C Incineration and Open Burning of Waste) and wastewater treatment (IPCC 2006 code 4.D Wastewater Treatment and Discharge). The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).

World Bank code: EN.GHG.CH4.WA.MT.CE.AR5 • Data available for 203 countries • Latest year: 2024

In , China led Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e) at 195.67.

The world median across 203 reporting countries was 1.68.

What this measures: A measure of annual emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the waste sector. This includes emissions from solid waste (IPCC 2006 codes 4.A Solid Waste Disposal, 4.B Biological Treatment of Solid Waste, 4.C Incineration and Open Burning of Waste) and wastewater treatment (IPCC 2006 code 4.D Wastewater Treatment and Discharge). The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).

How "Environment" indicators are measured

Environmental indicators cover emissions, land use, biodiversity, and natural resources. Emissions data is often produced by international scientific consortia (EDGAR, Global Carbon Project) and typically lags 2–3 years due to the complexity of fuel- and process-level accounting. Per-capita metrics reveal a different story than absolute totals — small wealthy countries can have high per-capita emissions while contributing little to the global total.

Distribution — 2024

Reporting
203 countries
Median
1.68
Mean
8.07
25th percentile
0.30
75th percentile
5.02
Range
0.00 – 195.67

World at a Glance — 2024

Every reporting country, grouped by region, shaded by value (quintile).

East Asia & PacificAmerican Samoa: 0.00ASAustralia: 15.70AUBrunei Darussalam: 0.11BNCambodia: 1.52KHChina: 195.67CNFiji: 0.37FJFrench Polynesia: 0.04PFGuam: 0.01GUHong Kong SAR, China: 4.78HKIndonesia: 54.41IDJapan: 5.74JPKiribati: 0.02KIKorea, Dem. People's Rep.: 4.46KPKorea, Rep.: 18.60KRLao PDR: 0.48LAMacao SAR, China: 0.04MOMalaysia: 12.28MYMarshall Islands: 0.00MHMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 0.00FMMongolia: 0.51MNMyanmar: 3.74MMNauru: 0.00NRNew Caledonia: 0.05NCNew Zealand: 3.78NZNorthern Mariana Islands: 0.00MPPalau: 0.00PWPapua New Guinea: 0.86PGPhilippines: 11.21PHSamoa: 0.03WSSingapore: 4.11SGSolomon Islands: 0.20SBThailand: 26.65THTimor-Leste: 0.10TLTonga: 0.04TOTuvalu: 0.00TVVanuatu: 0.08VUViet Nam: 17.28VNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: 0.52ALArmenia: 0.76AMAustria: 1.41ATAzerbaijan: 2.71AZBelarus: 3.60BYBelgium: 1.98BEBosnia and Herzegovina: 0.95BABulgaria: 4.26BGCroatia: 1.76HRCyprus: 0.80CYCzechia: 5.00CZDenmark: 0.81DKEstonia: 0.54EEFaroe Islands: 0.02FOFinland: 7.42FIFrance: 18.44FRGeorgia: 1.94GEGermany: 8.10DEGibraltar: 0.01GIGreece: 5.02GRGreenland: 0.05GLHungary: 4.63HUIceland: 0.19ISIreland: 1.16IEItaly: 15.57ITKazakhstan: 4.22KZKyrgyz Republic: 2.85KGLatvia: 0.55LVLithuania: 0.73LTLuxembourg: 0.11LUMoldova: 0.97MDNetherlands: 2.92NLNorth Macedonia: 0.67MKNorway: 1.45NOPoland: 5.21PLPortugal: 5.10PTRomania: 5.88RORussian Federation: 89.18RUSlovak Republic: 2.64SKSlovenia: 0.47SISpain: 12.89ESSweden: 3.35SESwitzerland: 0.25CHTajikistan: 1.51TJTurkiye: 20.79TRTurkmenistan: 1.49TMUkraine: 10.15UAUnited Kingdom: 22.62GBUzbekistan: 6.45UZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 0.04AGArgentina: 18.19ARAruba: 0.02AWBahamas, The: 0.32BSBarbados: 0.12BBBelize: 0.30BZBolivia: 2.17BOBrazil: 107.92BRBritish Virgin Islands: 0.00VGCayman Islands: 0.02KYChile: 14.34CLColombia: 22.38COCosta Rica: 1.92CRCuba: 4.84CUDominica: 0.03DMDominican Republic: 4.83DOEcuador: 4.27ECEl Salvador: 2.14SVGrenada: 0.04GDGuatemala: 7.62GTGuyana: 0.46GYHaiti: 1.17HTHonduras: 3.66HNJamaica: 0.27JMMexico: 48.48MXNicaragua: 1.03NIPanama: 1.68PAParaguay: 0.61PYPeru: 7.64PEPuerto Rico (US): 1.06PRSt. Kitts and Nevis: 0.03KNSt. Lucia: 0.03LCSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: 0.03VCSuriname: 0.23SRTrinidad and Tobago: 3.25TTTurks and Caicos Islands: 0.00TCUruguay: 5.28UYVenezuela, RB: 7.94VEVirgin Islands (U.S.): 0.00VIMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 2.03AFAlgeria: 9.76DZBahrain: 1.08BHDjibouti: 0.57DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 22.26EGIran, Islamic Rep.: 13.99IRIraq: 13.20IQIsrael: 7.05ILJordan: 5.26JOKuwait: 11.14KWLebanon: 3.65LBLibya: 3.06LYMalta: 0.18MTMorocco: 22.00MAOman: 3.83OMPakistan: 24.59PKQatar: 3.57QASaudi Arabia: 33.24SASyrian Arab Republic: 0.56SYTunisia: 3.36TNUnited Arab Emirates: 7.67AEYemen, Rep.: 4.81YENorth AmericaBermuda: 0.02BMCanada: 28.85CAUnited States: 149.52USSouth AsiaBangladesh: 17.03BDBhutan: 0.17BTIndia: 135.23INMaldives: 0.16MVNepal: 2.05NPSri Lanka: 4.72LKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 3.49AOBenin: 1.41BJBotswana: 0.52BWBurkina Faso: 2.61BFBurundi: 1.04BICabo Verde: 0.07CVCameroon: 4.38CMCentral African Republic: 0.44CFChad: 1.86TDComoros: 0.17KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 13.45CDCongo, Rep.: 0.73CGCote d'Ivoire: 3.26CIEquatorial Guinea: 0.35GQEritrea: 0.69EREswatini: 0.16SZEthiopia: 13.56ETGabon: 0.28GAGambia, The: 0.30GMGhana: 3.30GHGuinea: 2.58GNGuinea-Bissau: 0.36GWKenya: 3.40KELesotho: 0.19LSLiberia: 0.55LRMadagascar: 2.67MGMalawi: 1.25MWMali: 1.51MLMauritania: 0.96MRMauritius: 0.52MUMozambique: 2.05MZNamibia: 0.36NANiger: 1.25NENigeria: 33.33NGRwanda: 1.12RWSao Tome and Principe: 0.03STSenegal: 1.91SNSeychelles: 0.07SCSierra Leone: 0.78SLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 2.76SOSouth Africa: 25.44ZASudan: 9.96SDTanzania: 3.51TZTogo: 1.00TGUganda: 4.15UGZambia: 1.04ZMZimbabwe: 1.60ZW

Lighter = lower value · Darker = higher value. Hover a cell to see the country and value.

Highest Values — 2024

# Country Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e)
1 China East Asia & Pacific 195.67
2 United States North America 149.52
3 India South Asia 135.23
4 Brazil Latin America & Caribbean 107.92
5 Russian Federation Europe & Central Asia 89.18
6 Indonesia East Asia & Pacific 54.41
7 Mexico Latin America & Caribbean 48.48
8 Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa 33.33
9 Saudi Arabia Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 33.24
10 Canada North America 28.85

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e).

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Biggest Movers — Year over Year

Largest increases

Largest decreases

By Income Group — Average

Income group Countries Mean
High income 77 7.25
Upper middle income 51 12.47
Lower middle income 49 7.37
Low income 24 2.57
Not classified 2 10.75

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 37 10.35
Europe & Central Asia 49 5.92
Latin America & Caribbean 39 7.04
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 22 8.95
North America 3 59.46
South Asia 6 26.56
Sub-Saharan Africa 47 3.33

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e)
1 Nauru 0.00
2 Tuvalu 0.00
3 Turks and Caicos Islands 0.00
4 Virgin Islands (U.S.) 0.00
5 Marshall Islands 0.00
6 American Samoa 0.00
7 Northern Mariana Islands 0.00
8 British Virgin Islands 0.00
9 Palau 0.00
10 Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 0.00
Download full dataset: CSV JSON

Source: World Bank Open Data (EN.GHG.CH4.WA.MT.CE.AR5), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.