What is carbon intensity of gdp in South Africa?

Carbon intensity of gdp in South Africa was 1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 2024, according to EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission.

What is the highest carbon intensity of gdp recorded in South Africa?

The highest recorded value was 1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 1976.

What is the lowest carbon intensity of gdp recorded in South Africa?

The lowest recorded value was 1.17 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 2023.

How does South Africa rank for carbon intensity of gdp?

South Africa ranks 11th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.

Is carbon intensity of gdp rising or falling in South Africa?

Over the last ten years it is down 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.

Where does this South Africa data come from?

The figures come from EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission, published as part of Carbon intensity of GDP (kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Carbon intensity of GDP in South Africa

Name: Carbon intensity of GDP in South Africa
Creator: EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

South Africa: Carbon intensity of GDP was 1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)

1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP

Change on year

up 2.5%

World rank

11th

of 199 countries

All-time high

1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP

in 1976

All-time low

1.17 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP

in 2023

Years of data

1970–2024

Carbon intensity of GDP in South Africa, 1970–2024

Source: EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission. Measured in kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP.

Analysis

In 2024, carbon intensity of gdp in South Africa stood at 1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP.

The figure is up 2.5% on the previous year and down 15.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, carbon intensity of gdp in South Africa peaked at 1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 1976 and was at its lowest, 1.17 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP, in 2023.

South Africa ranks 11th of 199 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 55 years of available data.

Carbon intensity of GDP in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Carbon intensity of GDP (kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP) in South Africa, 1970 to 2024.
Year	kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	Change
1970	1.62 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	—
1971	1.55 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-4.7%
1972	1.58 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+1.9%
1973	1.64 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+4.2%
1974	1.6 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-2.7%
1975	1.69 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+5.6%
1976	1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+3.9%
1977	1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.0%
1978	1.55 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-11.7%
1979	1.53 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-1.3%
1980	1.52 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.4%
1981	1.53 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.3%
1982	1.57 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+2.9%
1983	1.61 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+2.7%
1984	1.64 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+1.4%
1985	1.69 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+2.9%
1986	1.67 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.8%
1987	1.73 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+3.5%
1988	1.68 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-2.9%
1989	1.62 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-3.4%
1990	1.7 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+4.6%
1991	1.67 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-1.6%
1992	1.67 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.0%
1993	1.66 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.5%
1994	1.65 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.9%
1995	1.68 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+2.2%
1996	1.67 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.8%
1997	1.7 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+1.8%
1998	1.72 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+1.2%
1999	1.6 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-6.9%
2000	1.57 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-2.2%
2001	1.57 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.2%
2002	1.57 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.0%
2003	1.62 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+3.1%
2004	1.68 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+3.5%
2005	1.63 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-2.7%
2006	1.56 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-4.4%
2007	1.55 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.9%
2008	1.59 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+2.8%
2009	1.51 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-4.9%
2010	1.49 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-1.4%
2011	1.38 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-7.3%
2012	1.4 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+1.5%
2013	1.41 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.5%
2014	1.42 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+1.0%
2015	1.33 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-6.2%
2016	1.32 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-1.1%
2017	1.33 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.9%
2018	1.32 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-0.7%
2019	1.33 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.6%
2020	1.34 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+0.6%
2021	1.27 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-5.1%
2022	1.19 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-6.2%
2023	1.17 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	-1.3%
2024	1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	+2.5%

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1970s	1.63 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.53 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	10
1980s	1.63 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.52 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.73 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	10
1990s	1.67 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.6 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.72 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	10
2000s	1.58 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.51 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.68 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	10
2010s	1.37 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.32 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.49 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	10
2020s	1.23 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.17 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	1.34 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP	5

Countries ranked near South Africa

8 Iraq 1.24 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP compare
9 Russian Federation 1.24 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP compare
10 Lao People's Democratic Republic 1.23 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP compare
12 Trinidad and Tobago 1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP compare
13 Libya 1.13 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP compare
14 Oman 1.08 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP compare

See the full ranking of 246 places →

More environment data for South Africa

Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.46 Percentage change (2025)
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 8.52 Percentage change (2025)
Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Standard Deviation 0.275 °C (2025)
Temperature change 1.05 °C (2025)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 -7.98 % change on previous year (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 0 million USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 0.0001 million USD per person (2024)
Primary wood and paper products (export/import) — Import value 8.29 % change on previous year (2024)
Primary wood and paper products (export/import) — Import value, per 0 1000 USD per US$ of GDP (2024)

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is carbon intensity of gdp in South Africa?: Carbon intensity of gdp in South Africa was 1.2 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 2024, according to EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission.
What is the highest carbon intensity of gdp recorded in South Africa?: The highest recorded value was 1.75 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 1976.
What is the lowest carbon intensity of gdp recorded in South Africa?: The lowest recorded value was 1.17 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP in 2023.
How does South Africa rank for carbon intensity of gdp?: South Africa ranks 11th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
Is carbon intensity of gdp rising or falling in South Africa?: Over the last ten years it is down 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Africa data come from?: The figures come from EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission, published as part of Carbon intensity of GDP (kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 55 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Carbon intensity of GDP in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission. Retrieved 11 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/carbon-intensity-of-gdp-kg-co2e-per-constant-2015-us-of-gdp/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/carbon-intensity-of-gdp-kg-co2e-per-constant-2015-us-of-gdp/south-africa/">Carbon intensity of GDP in South Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Carbon intensity of GDP (kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP)
Unit: kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP
Source: EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 246 places, 12,443 data points, 1970–2024
Last refreshed: 03 September 2026

Annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding LULUCF divided by the GDP in constant 2021 US$.