ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS
 

Air pollution

last update: July 2010
 
 

Total SO2 Emissions

                 
latest year
available
SO2  emissions

% change since
1990
SO2  emissions
per capita
   
 
1000 tonnes
%
kg
Algeria 1994
39.69
...
1.43
Andorra* 1997
0.69
 1
...
10.51
 1
Antigua and Barbuda 1990
2.83
…
45.70
Argentina 2000
87.62
10.6
2.37
Australia 2008
2 641.50
67.4
125.34
Austria 2008
22.35
-69.9
2.68
Azerbaijan 1994
48.00
-18.6
6.25
Bahrain 1994
1 177.63
...
2 097.08
Barbados 1997
0.05
...
0.20
Belarus 2008
141.26
-87.0
14.59
Belgium 2008
97.81
-72.8
9.24
Belize 1994
0.53
...
2.48
Benin 1995
0.17
...
0.03
Bhutan 1994
0.05
...
0.10
Bolivia 2000
12.11
8.5
1.46
Bulgaria 2008
825.90
-45.6
108.78
Cambodia 1994
25.69
...
2.32
Cameroon 1994
2.53
...
0.18
Chile 1994
1 968.10
...
138.83
Colombia 1994
170.27
20.1
4.76
Comoros 1994
0.36
...
0.74
Costa Rica 2005
4.85
...
1.12
Cote d'Ivoire 2000
4 079.55
...
236.06
Croatia 2008
54.74
-67.9
12.38
Cuba 1996
432.38
-0.1
39.47
Czech Republic 2008
174.34
-90.7
16.89
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 2000
0.02
...
0.00
Denmark 2008
19.79
-88.9
3.63
Dominica 1994
0.15
...
2.24
Dominican Republic 2000
110.15
42.9
12.47
Estonia 2008
64.44
-61.4
48.04
Ethiopia 1995
13.20
18.9
0.23
Fiji 1994
0.03
...
0.04
Finland 2008
68.69
-72.4
12.95
France 2008
400.07
-71.0
6.45
Gabon 1994
1.00
...
0.95
Georgia 2006
0.50
-99.8
0.11
Germany 2008
495.74
-90.7
6.03
Greece 2008
447.60
-5.1
40.19
Guatemala 1990
74.50
…
8.36
Guinea 1994
0.44
...
0.06
Haiti 1994
9.45
...
1.23
Honduras 1995
0.30
...
0.05
Hungary 2008
106.73
-75.4
 2
10.66
Iceland 2008
73.85
261.8
234.10
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 1994
29.13
...
0.48
Ireland 2008
44.54
-75.6
10.04
Israel 2005
227.21
...
33.95
Italy 2008
293.75
-83.6
4.93
Jamaica 1994
99.70
...
40.79
Japan 2008
783.03
-22.6
6.15
Jordan 2000
186.41
...
38.41
Kazakhstan 2008
483.31
-8.3
31.14
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. 1990
4 170.00
…
207.02
Kyrgyzstan 2005
26.90
-72.7
5.15
Latvia 2008
2.81
-97.2
1.24
Lebanon 1994
82.99
...
24.46
Lesotho* 1998
0.00
...
...
Lithuania 2007
33.63
-84.3
10.02
Luxembourg 2006
0.04
-75.0
0.09
Madagascar 1994
34.65
...
2.72
Mali 1995
0.00
...
0.00
Malta 2008
10.75
-30.9
26.38
Mauritania 2000
0.09
...
0.03
Mauritius* 2002
30.60
...
25.10
Mexico 2002
2 612.91
-3.1
25.61
Micronesia, Federated States of 1994
0.53
...
4.97
Monaco 2008
0.03
-59.5
0.92
Morocco 1994
295.00
...
11.11
Netherlands 2008
50.30
-73.2
3.04
New Zealand 2008
79.85
41.7
18.88
Nicaragua 1994
4.59
...
1.01
Niger 2000
2 140.00
...
194.00
Niue 1994
2 211.18
 3
...
1 027 022.76
 3
Norway 2008
20.25
-61.2
4.25
Pakistan 1994
775.46
...
6.09
Panama 1994
1.85
...
0.71
Paraguay 1994
0.28
-6.6
0.06
Peru 1994
123.26
...
5.24
Philippines 1994
458.53
...
6.70
Poland 2008
1 018.37
-68.3
26.73
Portugal 2008
113.40
-64.6
10.62
Republic of Moldova 2005
11.77
-96.0
3.13
Romania 2008
539.90
-28.6
25.27
Russian Federation 2008
625.46
-23.0
4.42
Saint Lucia 1994
0.61
...
4.18
Slovakia 2008
69.41
-86.8
12.85
Slovenia 2008
13.60
-94.6
6.75
Spain 2008
531.65
-75.6
11.95
Sri Lanka 1995
43.00
...
2.36
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1997
0.32
26.8
2.98
Sudan 1995
1.00
...
0.03
Swaziland 1994
1.97
...
2.08
Sweden 2008
30.61
-70.9
3.33
Switzerland 2008
13.86
-66.2
1.84
Tajikistan 2003
9.00
-73.5
1.41
The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 2002
2.65
-11.1
1.31
Togo 1995
0.13
...
0.03
Trinidad and Tobago* 1996
8.60
 4
-1.7
6.76
 4
Tunisia 1994
77.86
...
8.84
Turkey 2008
1 071.58
28.3
14.50
Turkmenistan 1994
22.89
...
5.59
Ukraine 2008
1 531.09
-71.1
33.29
United Arab Emirates 2000
8 090.00
...
2 498.41
United Kingdom 2008
516.32
-86.2
8.43
United Rep. of Tanzania 1994
175.74
8.4
6.04
United States 2008
10 368.09
-50.5
33.27
Uruguay 2000
48.19
13.9
14.51
Uzbekistan 2005
170.9
-74.9
6.49
Viet Nam 1994
1 911.1
...
26.66
Yemen 1995
7.69
...
0.50
Zambia 1994
6.42
...
0.72

 

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 other fuel combustion, industrial processes, and other sources.
  2. 1990 figure does not include SO2 from energy sector, which constitutes large share of total emissions. The percentage change is calculated based on 1991 data.
  3. 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.
  4. Emissions due to fuel combustion in energy industries, industry, and transport, plus emissions from industrial processes.


Definitions & Technical notes:

Data on emissions of SO2 are usually estimated according to international methodologies on the basis of national statistics on energy, industrial and agricultural production, waste management, 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 of SO2 is burning of fuels, including biomass.

SO2 emissions per capita is calculated by UNSD.


Data Quality:

Standardised methods for calculating SO2 emissions from fuel combustion have been available for many years. The amount of SO2 emitted is directly related to the sulphur content of the fossil fuels consumed in the country, and the desulphurisation techniques used, if any. Data on emissions from fuel combustion are considered to be reasonable.

 
United Nations Statistics Division - Environment Statistics