Ember · Carbon Intensity of Electricity
Carbon intensity of electricity by country
How clean is the electricity a country generates?
Of the 165 countries compared in 2024, Bhutan had the lowest reading, 23.73, and Turkmenistan had the highest reading, 1,306.15. In the middle country the figure was 433.75. Among the 162 countries measured in every edition since 2000, the middle one moved from 543.32 to 437.01.
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Carbon intensity of electricity · 2024
Key statistic · Energy
Lowest of 165Bhutan
23.73012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 165 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: VIkramjit Kakati derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Laxman Thapa from Nepal derivative work: Inkey · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: Dirk.heldmaier derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Highest in 2024
Turkmenistan1,306.15
Uzbekistan1,040.17
Bahrain902.48
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Carbon intensity of electricity on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 632.39–1,306.15
- 529.70–629.73
- 334.42–525.39
- 134.52–329.46
- 23.73–132.17
- No reading in 2024 (9 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
183.89
the middle country, of 33 measured · 49 members
Albania24.70
Serbia668.02Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Africa
466.14
the middle country, of 46 measured · 55 members
DR Congo27.64
Botswana852.48Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
516.07
the middle country, of 13 measured · 21 members
New Zealand111.86
American Samoa622.22Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Americas
517.62
the middle country, of 36 measured · 48 members
Paraguay24.85
Montserrat700.00Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Asia
538.70
the middle country, of 37 measured · 52 members
Bhutan23.73Turkmenistan1,306.15Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
116.10
the middle country, of 9 measured · 13 members
Iceland27.82
Estonia344.17Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
125.83
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
France40.34
Netherlands250.77Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Central America
220.33
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica25.82
Honduras321.96Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Southern Asia
225.80
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Bhutan23.73
Bangladesh695.84Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- South America
259.68
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Paraguay24.85
Guyana642.03Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Southern Europe
281.44
the middle country, of 11 measured · 17 members
Albania24.70Serbia668.02Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
304.26
the middle country, of 8 measured · 10 members
Slovakia97.19
Moldova636.74Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Africa
372.84
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Malawi56.83
South Sudan646.43Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Polynesia
440.28
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
Cook Islands350.00American Samoa622.22Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Western Africa
505.31
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Sierra Leone57.14
Niger670.53Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
520.50
the middle country, of 6 measured · 11 members
Laos232.08
Brunei892.99Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Middle Africa
525.39
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
DR Congo27.64
Republic of the Congo715.57Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Asia
541.79
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Georgia145.08Bahrain902.48Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Asia
558.97
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
North Korea340.59
Mongolia817.01Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Caribbean
632.39
the middle country, of 17 measured · 24 members
Haiti539.54Montserrat700.00Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: New Zealand.
New Zealand111.86Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
Tajikistan70.81Turkmenistan1,306.15Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands.
Fiji275.65
Solomon Islands600.00Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Guam, Kiribati, Nauru.
Kiribati500.00
Guam605.38Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia.
Sudan154.30
Libya826.92Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Greenland, United States.
Greenland138.33
United States383.81Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Africa
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia.
Namibia52.44Botswana852.48Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
165 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 433.75; a quarter are above 600.90, and a quarter below 183.67. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 174 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way Ember’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Ember ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Read it beside the renewable share on the same topic. A country can have a low renewable share and still be clean, if what it is not generating from renewables it is generating from nuclear.
Showing 25 of 174 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052000–2024 · 25 editions
Over time
Each point is one year from 2000. It falls when coal is replaced and rises when a drought cuts hydro output, so a single year's move is often weather rather than policy.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 162 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 165 | 433.75 | 183.67 – 600.90 | 437.01 |
| 2023 | 173 | 452.72 | 195.36 – 615.29 | 446.58 |
| 2022 | 174 | 476.25 | 203.97 – 610.90 | 462.33 |
| 2021 | 174 | 468.96 | 213.12 – 618.67 | 466.22 |
| 2020 | 174 | 481.95 | 233.21 – 625.37 | 478.22 |
| 2019 | 174 | 488.25 | 249.54 – 632.98 | 483.88 |
| 2018 | 174 | 500.44 | 264.69 – 641.02 | 492.72 |
| 2017 | 174 | 506.28 | 272.18 – 647.82 | 502.73 |
| 2016 | 174 | 521.85 | 291.48 – 650.04 | 521.85 |
| 2015 | 174 | 524.85 | 293.92 – 650.38 | 515.10 |
| 2014 | 174 | 522.31 | 285.68 – 656.63 | 518.37 |
| 2013 | 174 | 508.77 | 278.43 – 656.61 | 508.77 |
| 2012 | 174 | 525.41 | 277.02 – 657.45 | 517.67 |
| 2011 | 173 | 521.43 | 268.10 – 657.69 | 518.48 |
| 2010 | 173 | 515.52 | 268.22 – 657.45 | 513.25 |
| 2009 | 173 | 533.61 | 264.05 – 657.75 | 531.16 |
| 2008 | 173 | 517.21 | 250.62 – 657.14 | 514.68 |
| 2007 | 173 | 535.26 | 251.79 – 657.83 | 534.99 |
| 2006 | 173 | 537.55 | 280.37 – 657.97 | 538.53 |
| 2005 | 173 | 521.43 | 270.76 – 657.90 | 528.98 |
| 2004 | 172 | 523.07 | 272.50 – 657.81 | 532.41 |
| 2003 | 172 | 543.11 | 271.15 – 657.14 | 553.87 |
| 2002 | 171 | 551.28 | 252.33 – 657.90 | 552.03 |
| 2001 | 171 | 559.32 | 266.94 – 657.57 | 553.49 |
| 2000 | 171 | 540.34 | 249.49 – 658.07 | 543.32 |
062023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Nauru650.00 → 540.00 · 28th → 61st−110.00- Uzbekistan1,113.23 → 1,040.17 · 2nd → 2nd−73.06
Lebanon448.09 → 388.20 · 88th → 91st−59.89
Bulgaria338.45 → 279.06 · 108th → 109th−59.39
North Macedonia566.67 → 511.73 · 61st → 71st−54.94
Worsened most
before → after
Cambodia491.62 → 538.70 · 84th → 63rd+47.08
Colombia259.53 → 298.33 · 123rd → 107th+38.80- Serbia638.88 → 668.02 · 36th → 16th+29.14
- New Zealand87.36 → 111.86 · 156th → 143rd+24.50
- Republic of the Congo691.98 → 715.57 · 10th → 8th+23.59
165 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024. The field changed from 173 to 165 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
Carbon intensity of electricity in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
1,306.60
Carbon intensity (gCO₂e per kWh generated)
Lowest reading on record
20.00
Carbon intensity (gCO₂e per kWh generated)
Biggest improvement between editions
−335.71
450.00 → 114.29
Biggest decline between editions
+263.87
105.53 → 369.40
Most improved since first measured
−531.75
588.89 → 57.14
At the top most often
9 of 25
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About carbon intensity of electricity
This is how much carbon dioxide equivalent a country's power stations emit for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate. A country running on hydro or nuclear sits near the bottom; one running on coal sits near the top.
What the number is: Carbon intensity (gCO₂e per kWh generated).
What it does not measure
It is about the electricity a country generates, not the energy it uses: heating, transport and industry burn fuel outside this number, and a country importing clean power from a neighbour reads worse here than its plugs do.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Energy
“How much greenhouse gas a country's power stations emit for every unit of electricity they produce.”
- Edition used
- 2024 (data 2024)
- Countries
- 165
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where carbon intensity of electricity is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where carbon intensity of electricity is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Low-Carbon Share of Electricity GenerationEmber · 165 countries in commonρ −0.96
- Renewable Share of Electricity GenerationKeyEmber · 165 countries in commonρ −0.91
- Hydro Share of Electricity GenerationEmber · 164 countries in commonρ −0.74
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 355 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
More from Ember
- Coal Share of Electricity Generation
- Gas Share of Electricity Generation
- Hydro Share of Electricity Generation
- Low-Carbon Share of Electricity Generation
- Net Electricity Imports (share of generation)
- Nuclear Share of Electricity Generation
- Renewable Share of Electricity Generation
- Solar Share of Electricity Generation
- All statistics
11Questions
Carbon intensity of electricity: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest carbon intensity of electricity?
Bhutan, at 23.73, among the 165 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the highest carbon intensity of electricity?
Turkmenistan, at 1,306.15, among the 165 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Carbon Intensity of Electricity cover?
165 in 2024, and 174 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 165 to 174 between editions.
What is the world average carbon intensity of electricity?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 165 compared in 2024, the figure was 433.75.
Is this Ember’s own ranking?
No. Ember publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Carbon Intensity of Electricity published?
This site holds 25 editions, describing 2000 to 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Ember, under CC BY 4.0. From Ember's Yearly Electricity Data, the same public download its own data explorer offers, taken from Ember's whole-system “Total generation” row. Some countries are not shown — India, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom among them — because Ember takes their figures from publishers whose terms do not allow reuse on a commercial site. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Carbon Intensity of Electricity — Ember
From Ember's Yearly Electricity Data, the same public download its own data explorer offers, taken from Ember's whole-system “Total generation” row. Some countries are not shown — India, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom among them — because Ember takes their figures from publishers whose terms do not allow reuse on a commercial site.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: Ember. Yearly Electricity Data. London: Ember (Ember Energy Research CIC).
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-02.
How this page reads the numbers
- Ember ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Carbon intensity of electricity by country: Carbon Intensity of Electricity, data from Ember. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/electricity-carbon-intensity