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Environment

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e)

A measure of annual emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), 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.N2O.WA.MT.CE.AR5 • Data available for 203 countries • Latest year: 2024

In , China led Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e) at 31.69.

The world median across 203 reporting countries was 0.12.

What this measures: A measure of annual emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), 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
0.12
Mean
0.68
25th percentile
0.02
75th percentile
0.38
Range
0.00 – 31.69

World at a Glance — 2024

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

East Asia & PacificAmerican Samoa: 0.00ASAustralia: 1.03AUBrunei Darussalam: 0.00BNCambodia: 0.18KHChina: 31.69CNFiji: 0.01FJFrench Polynesia: 0.01PFGuam: 0.00GUHong Kong SAR, China: 0.18HKIndonesia: 3.79IDJapan: 2.47JPKiribati: 0.00KIKorea, Dem. People's Rep.: 0.00KPKorea, Rep.: 1.25KRLao PDR: 0.10LAMacao SAR, China: 0.01MOMalaysia: 0.55MYMarshall Islands: 0.00MHMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 0.00FMMongolia: 0.08MNMyanmar: 0.70MMNauru: 0.00NRNew Caledonia: 0.01NCNew Zealand: 0.14NZNorthern Mariana Islands: 0.00MPPalau: 0.00PWPapua New Guinea: 0.10PGPhilippines: 1.52PHSamoa: 0.00WSSingapore: 0.09SGSolomon Islands: 0.01SBThailand: 0.92THTimor-Leste: 0.02TLTonga: 0.00TOTuvalu: 0.00TVVanuatu: 0.00VUViet Nam: 1.72VNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: 0.10ALArmenia: 0.05AMAustria: 0.25ATAzerbaijan: 0.18AZBelarus: 0.21BYBelgium: 0.33BEBosnia and Herzegovina: 0.15BABulgaria: 0.11BGCroatia: 0.09HRCyprus: 0.03CYCzechia: 0.26CZDenmark: 0.20DKEstonia: 0.04EEFaroe Islands: 0.00FOFinland: 0.19FIFrance: 1.85FRGeorgia: 0.06GEGermany: 2.25DEGibraltar: 0.00GIGreece: 0.20GRGreenland: 0.00GLHungary: 0.19HUIceland: 0.01ISIreland: 0.14IEItaly: 1.37ITKazakhstan: 0.38KZKyrgyz Republic: 0.10KGLatvia: 0.06LVLithuania: 0.09LTLuxembourg: 0.02LUMoldova: 0.06MDNetherlands: 0.57NLNorth Macedonia: 0.09MKNorway: 0.14NOPoland: 0.91PLPortugal: 0.27PTRomania: 0.37RORussian Federation: 3.08RUSlovak Republic: 0.24SKSlovenia: 0.04SISpain: 1.54ESSweden: 0.21SESwitzerland: 0.18CHTajikistan: 0.15TJTurkiye: 1.73TRTurkmenistan: 0.10TMUkraine: 0.64UAUnited Kingdom: 2.03GBUzbekistan: 0.63UZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 0.00AGArgentina: 0.97ARAruba: 0.00AWBahamas, The: 0.01BSBarbados: 0.01BBBelize: 0.02BZBolivia: 0.16BOBrazil: 3.82BRBritish Virgin Islands: 0.00VGCayman Islands: 0.00KYChile: 0.39CLColombia: 1.67COCosta Rica: 0.08CRCuba: 0.17CUDominica: 0.00DMDominican Republic: 0.17DOEcuador: 0.22ECEl Salvador: 0.10SVGrenada: 0.00GDGuatemala: 0.23GTGuyana: 0.02GYHaiti: 0.09HTHonduras: 0.11HNJamaica: 0.05JMMexico: 2.41MXNicaragua: 0.08NIPanama: 0.07PAParaguay: 0.09PYPeru: 0.53PEPuerto Rico (US): 0.05PRSt. Kitts and Nevis: 0.00KNSt. Lucia: 0.00LCSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: 0.00VCSuriname: 0.01SRTrinidad and Tobago: 0.02TTTurks and Caicos Islands: 0.00TCUruguay: 0.06UYVenezuela, RB: 0.38VEVirgin Islands (U.S.): 0.00VIMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 0.42AFAlgeria: 0.73DZBahrain: 0.03BHDjibouti: 0.01DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 1.90EGIran, Islamic Rep.: 1.19IRIraq: 0.55IQIsrael: 0.39ILJordan: 0.13JOKuwait: 0.09KWLebanon: 0.10LBLibya: 0.12LYMalta: 0.01MTMorocco: 0.64MAOman: 0.09OMPakistan: 2.62PKQatar: 0.08QASaudi Arabia: 0.60SASyrian Arab Republic: 0.25SYTunisia: 0.22TNUnited Arab Emirates: 0.22AEYemen, Rep.: 0.33YENorth AmericaBermuda: 0.00BMCanada: 1.35CAUnited States: 9.94USSouth AsiaBangladesh: 2.03BDBhutan: 0.01BTIndia: 18.93INMaldives: 0.01MVNepal: 0.45NPSri Lanka: 0.25LKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 0.29AOBenin: 0.16BJBotswana: 0.03BWBurkina Faso: 0.38BFBurundi: 0.09BICabo Verde: 0.01CVCameroon: 0.34CMCentral African Republic: 0.06CFChad: 0.23TDComoros: 0.01KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 0.49CDCongo, Rep.: 0.06CGCote d'Ivoire: 0.33CIEquatorial Guinea: 0.01GQEritrea: 0.06EREswatini: 0.02SZEthiopia: 1.63ETGabon: 0.03GAGambia, The: 0.02GMGhana: 0.39GHGuinea: 0.15GNGuinea-Bissau: 0.02GWKenya: 0.52KELesotho: 0.02LSLiberia: 0.04LRMadagascar: 0.20MGMalawi: 0.25MWMali: 0.29MLMauritania: 0.08MRMauritius: 0.02MUMozambique: 0.28MZNamibia: 0.03NANiger: 0.41NENigeria: 2.20NGRwanda: 0.13RWSao Tome and Principe: 0.00STSenegal: 0.32SNSeychelles: 0.00SCSierra Leone: 0.08SLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 0.12SOSouth Africa: 0.85ZASudan: 0.78SDTanzania: 0.68TZTogo: 0.09TGUganda: 0.47UGZambia: 0.16ZMZimbabwe: 0.19ZW

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

Highest Values — 2024

# Country Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e)
1 China East Asia & Pacific 31.69
2 India South Asia 18.93
3 United States North America 9.94
4 Brazil Latin America & Caribbean 3.82
5 Indonesia East Asia & Pacific 3.79
6 Russian Federation Europe & Central Asia 3.08
7 Pakistan Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 2.62
8 Japan East Asia & Pacific 2.47
9 Mexico Latin America & Caribbean 2.41
10 Germany Europe & Central Asia 2.25

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Nitrous oxide (N2O) 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 0.47
Upper middle income 51 1.07
Lower middle income 49 0.79
Low income 24 0.23
Not classified 2 1.01

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 37 1.26
Europe & Central Asia 49 0.45
Latin America & Caribbean 39 0.31
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 22 0.49
North America 3 3.76
South Asia 6 3.61
Sub-Saharan Africa 47 0.28

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste (Mt CO2e)
1 Tuvalu 0.00
2 Nauru 0.00
3 British Virgin Islands 0.00
4 Brunei Darussalam 0.00
5 Palau 0.00
6 Turks and Caicos Islands 0.00
7 Bermuda 0.00
8 Gibraltar 0.00
9 Korea, Dem. People's Rep. 0.00
10 Cayman Islands 0.00
Download full dataset: CSV JSON

Source: World Bank Open Data (EN.GHG.N2O.WA.MT.CE.AR5), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.