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Data for 1981

Methane Emissions, 1981

1981, 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, 1981 covers 207 countries. United States is highest, at 31,685.737; Nauru is lowest, at 0.034. The middle country reads 172.112. Against 1980, 207 values changed (151 up, 56 down), the same countries are covered.

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Methane Emissions · Data for 1981

HighestUnited States

31,685.737

LowestNauru

0.034

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, 1981, 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, 1981: every country, as published by European Commission, Joint Research Centre (EDGAR).
United StatesUSANorthern America31,685.737
ChinaCHNEastern Asia27,753.677
IndiaINDSouthern Asia17,799.006
RussiaRUSEastern Europe13,776.926
BrazilBRASouth America9,724.463
GermanyDEUWestern Europe5,736.315
PolandPOLEastern Europe4,971.621
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe4,691.062
NigeriaNGAWestern Africa4,689.585
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia4,537.265
UkraineUKREastern Europe4,474.954
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand4,282.489
ArgentinaARGSouth America4,182.664
FranceFRAWestern Europe3,280.227
CanadaCANNorthern America3,110.332
MexicoMEXCentral America2,775.503
JapanJPNEastern Asia2,706.427
PakistanPAKSouthern Asia2,486.426
KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia2,453.296
Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia2,362.359
ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia2,186.406
South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa2,146.007
MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia1,830.566
ColombiaCOLSouth America1,828.121
VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia1,824.433

02In 1981

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. United States31,685.737
  2. China27,753.677
  3. India17,799.006
  4. Russia13,776.926
  5. Brazil9,724.463

Lowest

  1. Nauru0.034
  2. Marshall Islands0.043
  3. Anguilla0.046
  4. Tuvalu0.050
  5. Niue0.057

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 172.112. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031980 → 1981

Since 1980

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 207values changed, of 207 in both
  • 151 · 56rose · fell
  • 0unchanged

Rose most

  • India17,316.359 → 17,799.006+482.647
  • Mexico2,627.732 → 2,775.503+147.771
  • Indonesia4,407.450 → 4,537.265+129.815
  • Russia13,660.660 → 13,776.926+116.266
  • Brazil9,626.958 → 9,724.463+97.505

Fell most

  • Iraq3,944.574 → 1,715.868−2,228.705
  • Nigeria6,218.519 → 4,689.585−1,528.934
  • Libya2,254.608 → 1,478.192−776.417
  • Poland5,673.395 → 4,971.621−701.774
  • Kuwait826.135 → 591.459−234.676

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 1981.

  • 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) (1981). Methane Emissions, 1981 [data set], describing 1981. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/methane-emissions/1981

0656 held

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