China, US and India account for half of global emissions. Check top 10 countries

China, the United States and India together account for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the concentration of climate-warming pollution among the world's largest economies.

According to a ranking published by Visual Capitalist on October 16, 2026, based on data from the European Commission's Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), China remained the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter in 2025, followed by the US and India.

China accounted for 30.3% of global emissions, while the United States contributed 11.4% and India 8.5%. Together, the three countries were responsible for approximately 50.2% of the global total in the ranking, underlining their importance in efforts to curb climate change.

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The figures cover greenhouse gases expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), which allows different gases to be compared using a common measure of their warming impact. International aviation and shipping emissions are excluded from the country-level shares.

Top 10 countries by greenhouse gas emissions in 2025

Some major economies are beginning to reduce emissions

Despite the scale of global greenhouse gas emissions, several economies have made progress in cutting their output.

Visual Capitalist reported that energy-related CO₂ emissions in China fell by around 0.5% in 2025, supported by growth in renewable and nuclear power. India also recorded a decline in energy-related CO₂ emissions during the year.

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Europe has seen longer-term reductions. According to the analysis, greenhouse gas emissions across the European Union have declined by 40% since 1990, even as the bloc's economy expanded by more than 70%. Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom have also recorded double-digit percentage reductions over the past decade.

At the global level, however, the challenge remains significant. The European Commission's EDGAR 2026 report estimated that worldwide greenhouse gas emissions reached 54.1 billion tonnes of CO₂e in 2025, marking a 0.7% increase from 2024. Fossil-fuel-related CO₂ accounted for the largest share, at 73.8% of total emissions.