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Data for 1979

Methane Emissions, 1979

1979, as EDGAR’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how much methane a country releases in a year — from cattle and other livestock, rice paddies, leaks from oil and gas systems, coal mines, landfills and waste water. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide: it lasts less long in the air but traps far more heat per tonne.

Methane Emissions, 1979 covers 207 countries. United States is highest, at 31,173.863; Nauru is lowest, at 0.033. The middle country reads 161.996. Against 1978, 207 values changed (162 up, 45 down), the same countries are covered.

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Methane Emissions · Data for 1979

HighestUnited States

31,173.863

LowestNauru

0.033

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Methane Emissions, 1979, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 207 countries · select a heading to sort

Methane Emissions, 1979: every country, as published by European Commission, Joint Research Centre (EDGAR).
United StatesUSANorthern America31,173.863
ChinaCHNEastern Asia27,721.421
IndiaINDSouthern Asia16,741.870
RussiaRUSEastern Europe13,436.380
BrazilBRASouth America8,828.902
NigeriaNGAWestern Africa6,758.480
PolandPOLEastern Europe5,988.779
GermanyDEUWestern Europe5,698.524
IraqIRQWestern Asia5,045.870
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe4,641.829
UkraineUKREastern Europe4,415.014
ArgentinaARGSouth America4,338.329
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand4,303.801
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia4,281.851
IranIRNSouthern Asia3,310.827
FranceFRAWestern Europe3,304.771
CanadaCANNorthern America3,144.335
JapanJPNEastern Asia2,776.628
LibyaLBYNorthern Africa2,558.140
KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia2,548.729
MexicoMEXCentral America2,467.167
PakistanPAKSouthern Asia2,396.046
Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia2,214.799
ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia2,095.935
South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa2,031.702

02In 1979

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. United States31,173.863
  2. China27,721.421
  3. India16,741.870
  4. Russia13,436.380
  5. Brazil8,828.902

Lowest

  1. Nauru0.033
  2. Marshall Islands0.039
  3. Anguilla0.045
  4. Tuvalu0.049
  5. Turks and Caicos Islands0.062

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 161.996. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031978 → 1979

Since 1978

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 207values changed, of 207 in both
  • 162 · 45rose · fell
  • 0unchanged

Rose most

  • Iraq3,798.319 → 5,045.870+1,247.551
  • Nigeria5,702.329 → 6,758.480+1,056.151
  • United States30,282.489 → 31,173.863+891.375
  • China27,375.495 → 27,721.421+345.926
  • Brazil8,561.981 → 8,828.902+266.922

Fell most

  • Iran4,957.414 → 3,310.827−1,646.587
  • Australia4,361.264 → 4,303.801−57.463
  • Bolivia839.346 → 789.738−49.608
  • Thailand2,145.104 → 2,095.935−49.168
  • Myanmar1,663.501 → 1,626.867−36.635

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • One year of the 2026 release

    Every year in this series comes from EDGAR’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 1979.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 207 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (EDGAR) (1979). Methane Emissions, 1979 [data set], describing 1979. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/methane-emissions/1979

0656 held

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