South Africa: Greenhouse gas emissions

The latest value from 2020 is 501521 kt of CO2 equivalent, a decline from 555409 kt of CO2 equivalent in 2019. In comparison, the world average is 241624 kt of CO2 equivalent, based on data from 185 countries. Historically, the average for South Africa from 1990 to 2020 is 449204 kt of CO2 equivalent. The minimum value, 320280 kt of CO2 equivalent, was reached in 1992 while the maximum of 555409 kt of CO2 equivalent was recorded in 2019. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

Definition: Total greenhouse gas emissions in kt of CO2 equivalent are composed of CO2 totals excluding short-cycle biomass burning (such as agricultural waste burning and savanna burning) but including other biomass burning (such as forest fires, post-burn decay, peat fires and decay of drained peatlands), all anthropogenic CH4 sources, N2O sources and F-gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6).