ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS

 
   
 

Air Pollution

 
last update: July 2010
 
                 

 Total NOx Emissions

   
 
 
   
   
 
 
   
latest
year
available
NOx emissions
% change
since 1990
NOx emissions
per capita
   
1000 tonnes
%
kg
Albania
1994
18.01
...
5.68
Algeria 1994
247.00
...
8.91
Andorra* 1997
0.71
1
...
10.77
1
Argentina 2000
675.79
31.1
18.29
Armenia 1990
73.12
20.63
Australia 2007
2 650.92
48.1
127.12
Austria 2007
205.61
5.6
24.75
Azerbaijan* 2002
49.10
...
5.96
Bahrain 1994
57.46
...
102.32
Barbados 1997
0.05
-97.9
0.20
Belarus 2007
185.46
-44.8
19.07
Belgium 2007
234.83
-40.7
22.30
Belize 1994
5.60
...
26.16
Benin 1995
54.26
...
9.48
Bhutan 1994
0.72
...
1.40
Bolivia 2004
64.92
31.1
7.21
Brazil 1994
2 301.30
10.8
14.45
Bulgaria 2007
152.98
-36.8
20.02
Burkina Faso 1994
9.37
...
0.95
Burundi 1998
12.44
...
1.97
Cambodia 1994
37.97
...
3.43
Cameroon 1994
252.22
...
18.42
Canada 2002
43.46
182.5
1.39
Cape Verde 1995
0.80
...
2.01
Central African Republic 1994
51.25
...
15.77
Chad 1993
78.35
...
11.70
Chile 1994
196.35
...
13.85
Colombia 1994
276.05
18.4
7.71
Comoros 1994
0.47
...
0.97
Congo 2000
17.65
...
5.81
Costa Rica 2005
26.88
-19.8
6.21
Cote d'Ivoire 2000
290.49
...
16.81
Croatia 2007
70.41
-20.8
15.90
Cuba 1996
101.54
-28.4
9.27
Czech Republic 2007
262.81
-64.6
25.59
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 2003
784.69
...
14.12
Denmark 2007
156.08
-43.8
28.66
Djibouti 1994
2.29
...
3.74
Dominica 1994
0.43
...
6.31
Dominican Republic 2000
93.12
68.4
10.55
Ecuador 1990
103.69
10.09
El Salvador 1994
34.02
...
6.01
Eritrea 1994
0.30
...
0.09
Estonia 2007
33.17
-58.5
24.70
Ethiopia 1995
166.00
3.8
2.91
Fiji 1994
4.80
...
6.33
Finland 2007
168.49
-42.9
31.89
France 2007
1 307.46
-32.0
21.19
Gabon 1994
3 839.04
2
...
3 646.61
2
Gambia 1993
2.78
...
2.77
Georgia 2006
27.67
-78.6
6.27
Germany 2007
1 380.27
-52.0
16.76
Greece 2007
357.21
20.8
32.15
Guatemala 1990
43.79
4.91
Guinea 1994
70.42
...
9.74
Guinea-Bissau 1994
4.88
...
4.29
Guyana 1998
19.00
280.0
25.09
Haiti 1994
7.74
...
1.00
Honduras 1995
64.07
...
11.47
Hungary 2007
168.76
34.4
3
16.82
Iceland 2007
22.46
-17.5
72.89
Indonesia 1994
928.33
4.92
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 1994
1 203.09
...
19.65
Ireland 2007
108.38
-12.0
24.89
Israel 2005
204.81
...
30.61
Italy 2007
1 067.49
-47.7
18.00
Jamaica 1994
30.90
...
12.64
Japan 2007
1 874.29
-8.0
14.71
Jordan 2000
75.56
...
15.57
Kazakhstan 2008
351.44
23.1
22.64
Kenya 1994
49.98
...
1.87
Kiribati 1994
0.00
...
0.00
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. 1990
431.98
21.45
Korea, Republic of 1990
850.60
19.79
Kyrgyzstan 2005
64.92
-44.5
12.43
Lao People's Dem. Rep. 1990
11.48
2.73
Latvia 2007
37.90
-47.9
16.71
Lebanon 1994
54.17
...
15.97
Lesotho* 1998
5.05
...
2.77
Lithuania 2007
67.48
-50.5
20.11
Luxembourg 2006
0.42
162.5
0.89
Madagascar 1994
30.59
...
2.40
Malawi 1994
26.31
-9.0
2.64
Mali 1995
22.93
...
2.40
Malta 2008
8.43
11.1
20.70
Mauritania 2000
10.31
...
3.96
Mauritius* 2002
14.50
...
11.89
Mexico 2002
1 444.41
16.3
14.15
Micronesia, Federated States of 1994
2.25
...
21.30
Monaco 2007
0.34
-25.3
10.36
Mongolia 1998
2.98
29.6
1.28
Morocco 1994
152.00
...
5.73
Mozambique 1994
93.81
22.1
6.09
Namibia 1994
0.08
...
0.05
Netherlands 2007
279.09
-48.7
16.96
New Zealand 2007
162.07
58.9
38.65
Nicaragua 1994
37.15
...
8.15
Niger 2000
24.00
...
2.18
Nigeria 1994
474.94
...
4.41
Niue 1994
26.30
4
...
12 215.75
4
Norway 2007
175.30
-14.0
37.14
Pakistan 1994
410.26
...
3.22
Palau 1994
0.18
...
10.89
Panama* 2002
39.42
...
12.87
Paraguay 1994
6 919.57
5
6184.8
5
1 474.86
5
Peru 1994
181.66
...
7.72
Philippines 1994
345.23
...
5.04
Poland 2007
828.25
-35.3
21.72
Portugal 2007
268.38
2.4
25.22
Republic of Moldova 2005
31.58
-77.1
8.40
Romania 2007
361.22
-21.4
16.84
Russian Federation 2007
5 068.95
-45.0
35.71
Rwanda 2002
0.55
...
0.06
Saint Lucia 1994
1.41
...
9.72
Samoa 1994
0.97
...
5.82
San Marino 2007
1.54
...
49.78
Sao Tome and Principe 1998
1.02
...
7.57
Senegal 1995
8.84
...
1.02
Seychelles 1995
0.59
...
7.79
Slovakia 2007
95.04
-57.2
17.62
Slovenia 2007
53.19
67.2
26.46
Spain 2007
1 253.94
-7.4
28.47
Sri Lanka 1995
62.00
...
3.40
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1997
27.87
-3.2
258.18
6
Sudan 1995
96.00
...
3.11
Suriname 2003
10.00
...
20.52
Swaziland 1994
19.93
...
21.01
Sweden 2007
155.71
-48.7
17.00
Switzerland 2007
81.16
-48.9
10.80
Tajikistan 2003
12.00
-83.8
1.88
Thailand 1994
286.65
...
4.81
The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 2002
32.08
-22.9
15.85
Togo 1998
19.80
...
4.03
Tonga 1994
0.49
...
5.05
Trinidad and Tobago 1990
36.90
30.52
Tunisia 1994
72.62
...
8.24
Turkey 2007
1 288.71
100.2
17.65
Turkmenistan 1994
83.81
...
20.46
Tuvalu 1994
0.00
...
0.00
Uganda 1994
1 200.64
...
59.16
Ukraine 2007
939.30
-56.9
20.29
United Arab Emirates 2000
248.00
...
76.59
United Kingdom 2007
1 406.24
-49.0
23.09
United Rep. of Tanzania 1994
979.07
7
524.9
7
33.67
United States 2007
13 940.79
-36.1
45.16
Uruguay 2000
45.20
48.8
13.61
Uzbekistan 2005
257.52
-37.5
9.78
Vanuatu 1994
0.08
...
0.50
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 1999
395.79
...
16.53
Viet Nam 1994
223.99
...
3.13
Yemen 1995
89.06
...
5.74
Zambia 1994
1 197.85
8
...
135.28
8
Zimbabwe 1994
77.40
...
6.73

 

Sources:

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat (see: http://unfccc.int).
UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire 2004 on Environment Statistics, Air section, marked with " * ".
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, New York, 2009 (advanced Excel tables).


Footnotes:

  1. Emissions due to transport, other fuel combustion, and other sources.
  2. The high value is due to its national circumstance of heavy dependence on crude oil as main source of primary energy (80%).
  3. 1990 figure does not include NOx from energy sector, which constitutes large share of total emissions. The percentage change is calculated based on 1991 data.
  4. 1994 figure is considered as an uncharacteristically high in terms of GHG emissions. It was mainly influenced by large-scale extension of Niue's international airport runway, and the major construction and sealing of roads (230 km). The high per capita figure is also due to a very small population base.
  5. Burning of agriculture residue (cotton and soybeans) as source of NOx emissions increased significantly in 1994 from 1990 level. This could be consequence of change in the government policy in 1993 to move towards free-market economy that led to the rapid expansion of cash crops due to the rise in the international demand for these products.
  6. The high per capita figure is due to large emissions from fertilizer and burning and a small population base.
  7. The big increase in NOx emissions may be caused by a large increase of fire-cured tobacco. In the year 1990/91, a positive change of 112% was recorded for fire-cured tobacco. Tobacco growing in Tanzania impacts NOx emissions in following ways: (1) farming practice of "slash and burn" to prepare the growing area, and (2) curing of tobacco with biomass as fuel.
  8. The main source of NOx emissions was residential/commercial building sector and the primary source of heating in households are firewood, charcoal and coal. Combustion of these fuels are known to emit NOx.


Definitions & Technical notes:

Data on emissions of NOx are usually estimated according to international methodologies on the basis of national statistics on energy, industrial and agricultural production, waste management and land use, etc.

The most widely used methodologies are the 1996 Guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) (see
http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gl/invs1.html) which is the basis for reporting to the UNFCCC. The latest revision and update of this guideline is 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (see http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.htm). In earlier years the guidelines produced for the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution were widely used in Europe, and are still used in some countries.

The main source for NOx is burning of fuels, particularly petroleum products. In some countries agriculture and burning of savannas is also an important contributor, but estimating these emissions is more difficult and often data are not available.

NOx emissions per capita is calculated by UNSD.


Data Quality:

Although standardised methods for calculating NOx emissions have been available for many years, calculating emissions of NOx is more difficult than for SO2, as many more parameters need to be taken into account. Therefore the quality of data on NOx emissions is considered to be only fair.

 
United Nations Statistics Division - Environment Statistics