plate 327 · 2025 data

Britain and France now emit below the world's average CO2

CO2 per person vs the world average: 76 of 205 countries above it in 2005, 68 in 2025 (2025 preliminary).

A planet under pressure
  1. 1. Heat that bleaches coral reached 84% of the world's reefs
  2. 2. Swiss glaciers lost over 5% of their ice in 2026
  3. 3. Canada's 2023 fires burned more than twice the old record
  4. 4. Tropical forests lost a record 6.7 million hectares in 2024
  5. 5. Drought cut Panama Canal transits by a fifth in 2024
  6. 6. China adds more forest each year than any other country
  7. 7. Kyoto's cherries now bloom earliest in 1,200 years of records
  8. 8. Brazil's Amazon lost the least forest on record
  9. 9. Three in four Bangkok residents now live on a floodplain
  10. 10. Indonesia now emits more CO2 from energy than Germany
  11. 11. Iran's gas flaring has doubled in ten years
  12. 12. Grid gas SF6 is building up at a record pace
  13. 13. Syria has lost more stored water than drought-famous Iran
  14. 14. Guyana now emits more CO2 per person than Britain
  15. 15. Nearly 20 million Shanghai residents live in a flood zone
  16. 16. Indonesia climbed from tenth to fourth in CO2 from coal
  17. 17. Brazil's Amazon north added 85% of its new cattle
  18. 18. Estonia cut carbon per person more than any growing economy
  19. 19. Outside China and India, the world's CO2 fell since 2015
  20. 20. Cambodia now loses its forest faster than any big-forest country
  21. 21. Bolivia now loses more tropical forest than Indonesia
  22. 22. Britain and France now emit below the world's average CO2
16 of 205

Countries that were above the world's average CO2 per person in 2005 and below it in 2025, among them Britain, France and Spain.

4.6 vs 8.8 tonnes

Britain's fossil CO2 per person in 2025, against China's; Britain's halved from 9.4 since 2005, China's rose.

4.50 → 4.74 tonnes

The world average itself rose, so the line these countries fell below moved up, not down.

Source: Global Carbon Project, Global Carbon Budget: fossil CO2 emissions per person, 2025
the numbers & method
Britain and France now emit below the world's average CO2. Source: Global Carbon Project, Global Carbon Budget: fossil CO2 emissions per person, 2025.
CountryValue (t)
QAT31.5
BRN23.2
BHR22.5
KWT22.5
ARE20.7
TTO19.5
SAU18.5
SXM18.0
OMN16.3
KAZ14.9
USA14.5
AUS14.0
FRO13.8
PLW13.8
CAN13.6
RUS12.3
MNG11.9
TKM11.3
KOR11.2
GRL11.0
TWN10.8
LBY10.4
IRN9.3
LUX9.2
SGP9.2
CHN8.8
ISL8.8
CUW8.6
MYS8.5
ABW8.5
TCA8.3
BMU8.3
JPN7.8
POL7.4
BEL7.4
CZE7.4
ZAF7.1
ATG7.1
DEU6.8
NOR6.5
BHS6.4
NLD6.3
SRB6.3
ISR6.2
AUT6.1
IRL6.0
BIH6.0
NZL5.9
BLR5.9
KNA5.7
SVN5.6
EST5.6
TUR5.5
AND5.5
GRC5.4
IRQ5.4
CYP5.3
NRU5.3
SVK5.2
FIN5.2
GUY5.1
BGR5.0
HRV5.0
ITA5.0
SYC4.9
BRB4.9
MDV4.8
VGB4.7
GBR4.6
XKX4.6
MHL4.5
ESP4.4
DZA4.4
LTU4.2
SUR4.2
HKG4.1
MNE4.1
DNK4.1
HUN4.0
MUS3.9
ARG3.8
CHL3.8
FRA3.8
SWE3.8
AZE3.7
VNM3.7
MKD3.7
PYF3.6
THA3.6
MEX3.6
VEN3.6
UKR3.6
PRT3.5
CHE3.5
UZB3.4
LVA3.4
ROU3.3
GRD3.2
GEO3.2
GNQ3.1
LCA3.1
MLT3.1
LAO3.1
DOM3.0
JAM2.9
IDN2.9
LBN2.9
LIE2.8
PAN2.8
DMA2.7
BWA2.7
TUN2.7
VCT2.6
ECU2.5
JOR2.4
BRA2.3
PRK2.3
BTN2.3
URY2.3
IND2.2
CUB2.2
ARM2.2
EGY2.1
BOL2.1
BLZ2.0
PER2.0
FJI1.9
MAR1.9
CRI1.9
MDA1.8
COL1.8
GAB1.8
KGZ1.7
ALB1.7
TON1.6
KHM1.6
SLV1.5
PHL1.5
FSM1.4
MAC1.4
WSM1.3
COG1.3
CPV1.3
TUV1.3
HND1.2
PRY1.2
NAM1.2
GTM1.1
SYR1.1
MRT1.1
TJK1.1
ZWE1.0
NIC0.9
SWZ0.9
VUT0.9
LKA0.8
PAK0.8
PNG0.8
SEN0.8
PSE0.7
GHA0.7
SLB0.7
BGD0.7
COM0.7
MMR0.6
STP0.6
AGO0.6
NGA0.6
KIR0.6
CIV0.6
BEN0.6
DJI0.5
NPL0.5
ZMB0.5
TLS0.5
YEM0.5
KEN0.4
BFA0.3
GMB0.3
LSO0.3
GIN0.3
MLI0.3
TGO0.3
CMR0.3
TZA0.3
AFG0.3
MOZ0.3
SDN0.3
SSD0.3
ERI0.2
SLE0.2
GNB0.2
LBR0.2
ETH0.1
MDG0.1
RWA0.1
UGA0.1
NER0.1
HTI0.1
TCD0.1
MWI0.1
CAF0.1
SOM0.1
BDI0.1
COD0.0

Claim types Fact · Estimate · Interpretation

Global Carbon Project, Global Carbon Budget fossil CO2 dataset (fossil fuels and cement, territorial emissions, tonnes of CO2 per person), read from the Global Carbon Project via the progrss vault (§4.11, global-carbon-project 3 matches/0 mismatches). 2025 values are the publisher's latest year and are preliminary. The yardstick is the publisher's own World value per person: 4.50 tonnes in 2005, 4.74 in 2025. Counting rule (progrss calculation): a country is counted as above when its fossil CO2 per person exceeds the World value in the same year; the same 205 countries and territories are compared in both years (aggregates excluded). 76 of 205 above in 2005, 68 in 2025. Dropped below (16): Britain 9.41 to 4.60, Spain 8.36 to 4.40, Hong Kong 6.27 to 4.12, Denmark 9.51 to 4.06, Hungary 5.97 to 3.97, France 6.77 to 3.83, Sweden 5.95 to 3.75, Venezuela 5.48 to 3.57, Ukraine 6.59 to 3.56, Portugal 6.62 to 3.54, Switzerland 6.16 to 3.47, Uzbekistan 4.63 to 3.42, Romania 4.78 to 3.34, Equatorial Guinea 6.57 to 3.14, Malta 6.41 to 3.10, Liechtenstein 6.60 to 2.84. Rose above (8): Mongolia 3.31 to 11.86, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.93 to 5.96, St Kitts and Nevis 4.26 to 5.74, Turkey 3.86 to 5.54, Iraq 4.03 to 5.42, Guyana 2.13 to 5.08, Seychelles 4.31 to 4.92, Maldives 1.98 to 4.79. 76 - 16 + 8 = 68. On 2024 data (the last full year) the count is 63 above, not 68: five small places flip between 2024 and preliminary 2025 (Barbados, Croatia and the British Virgin Islands are below the line in 2024 and above it in 2025, so they are not counted as droppers; the Maldives and Seychelles are below it in 2024, so on 2024 data the risers are 6, not 8). The British Virgin Islands (4.744 vs a world value of 4.737 in 2025) sits on the line. All 16 droppers and the named western European countries are below the line in both 2024 and 2025. These are production (territorial) emissions: CO2 from making imported goods counts in the producing country, which lifts China's figure and lowers Europe's. Takeaway 3 states the publisher's own World values. Related plates: 241 (Guyana passed Britain per person), 178 (China passed Japan per person), 279 (Estonia). Map: fossil CO2 per person in 2025.

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