Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States

Though the U.S.'s per capita and per GDP emissions have declined significantly, the raw numerical decline in emissions is much less substantial.[2]
The U.S. has among the highest per person emissions, of the countries that emit the most greenhouse gases.[3]
The U.S. has been the predominant producer of natural gas, which includes the greenhouse gas methane.[4]
Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., arranged by economic sector[5]
Annual US CO2 emissions are about a third that of China, which has about four times the population.[6]


The United States produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020,[7] the second largest in the world after greenhouse gas emissions by China and among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person. In 2019 China is estimated to have emitted 27% of world GHG, followed by the United States with 11%, then India with 6.6%.[8] In total the United States has emitted a quarter of world GHG, more than any other country.[9][10] Annual emissions are over 15 tons per person and, amongst the top eight emitters, is the highest country by greenhouse gas emissions per person.[11]

The IEA estimates that the richest decile in the US emits over 55 tonnes of CO2 per capita each year.[12] Because coal-fired power stations are gradually shutting down, in the 2010s emissions from electricity generation fell to second place behind transportation which is now the largest single source.[13] In 2020, 27% of the GHG emissions of the United States were from transportation, 25% from electricity, 24% from industry, 13% from commercial and residential buildings and 11% from agriculture.[13]

U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by 3% in 2023, amounting to a reduction of approximately 134 million metric tons (MMmt). This reduction primarily occurred in the electric power sector, with a significant shift from coal-fired power to more sustainable energy sources like solar and natural gas.[14]

In 2021, the electric power sector was the second largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 25% of the U.S. total.[15] These greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to climate change in the United States, as well as worldwide.

  1. ^ US EPA, OAR (2015-08-25). "Fast Facts on Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  2. ^ "Climate Change Indicators: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Figure 3. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Capita and per Dollar of GDP, 1990–2020". EPA.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.
  3. ^ ● Emissions data source: "Territorial (MtCO2) / 1) Emissions / Carbon emissions / Chart View". Global Carbon Atlas. 2024. (archive on Our World in Data)
    ● Country population data source: "Population, total / All Countries and Economies / Most Recent Value (Thousands)". World Bank. 2024. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025.
  4. ^ "International / DATA / Natural Gas / Download options / Export CSV (table)". U.S. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Explorer". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 17 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025. (Select display options: 1. All sectors, 2. All sectors, 3. All gases, 4. Economic Sector, 5. Most recent year, 6. National)
  6. ^ "GHG emissions of all world countries". Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR). 2024. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. (select "CO2 total emissions" from dropdown list)
  7. ^ US EPA, OAR (2017-02-08). "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  8. ^ "Report: China emissions exceed all developed nations combined". BBC News. 2021-05-07.
  9. ^ "The world is still falling short of meeting its climate goals". Environment. 2021-10-26. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  10. ^ "Who has contributed most to global CO2 emissions?". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  11. ^ Ge, Mengpin; Friedrich, Johannes; Vigna, Leandro (2020-02-06). "4 Charts Explain Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Countries and Sectors". World Resources Institute. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  12. ^ IEA (2023), The world’s top 1% of emitters produce over 1000 times more CO2 than the bottom 1%, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-world-s-top-1-of-emitters-produce-over-1000-times-more-co2-than-the-bottom-1, License: CC BY 4.0
  13. ^ a b EPA, OA, US (2015-12-29). "Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions - US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  14. ^ "U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by 3% in 2023 - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  15. ^ "Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions". EPA. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
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