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Environment · East Asia & Pacific · High income

South Korea: environment and emissions

CO₂ per person is 11.36 t (2024), 17th of 203 in the world and 5th of 37 in East Asia & Pacific. GHG per person is 12.91 t (2024), 22nd of 203 in the world and 7th of 37 in East Asia & Pacific. GHG emissions is 668.2 Mt (2024), 13th of 203 in the world and 4th of 37 in East Asia & Pacific.

CO₂ per person11.36 t2024 · world 17/203 · region 5/37GHG per person12.91 t2024 · world 22/203 · region 7/37GHG emissions668.2 Mt2024 · world 13/203 · region 4/37CO₂ emissions588.0 Mt2024 · world 9/203 · region 4/37
CO₂ per person
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
0.05.01015199520002005201020152020South Korea11.36 tEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
GHG per person
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
0.05.0101520199520002005201020152020South Korea12.91 tEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
15 indicators

Environment: South Korea in detail

Latest reported value, world rank and rank within East Asia & Pacific; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.

IndicatorLatestWorld rankIn region~2000~2010~202010-year changeRegionIncome groupWorldSince 2000
CO₂ per personCO₂ emissions per capita, tonnes11.36 t202417/2035/379.92 t12.37 t11.91 t−8.6%since 20147.35 t9.75 t4.69 t
GHG per personGreenhouse gas emissions per person, t CO₂e12.91 t202422/2037/3711.28 t13.78 t13.41 t−6.7%since 20149.06 t12.50 t6.36 t
GHG emissionsTotal greenhouse gas emissions excl. land use, Mt CO₂e668.2 Mt202413/2034/37530.1 Mt683.0 Mt695.1 Mt−4.9%since 201421,426.8 Mt17,426.5 Mt53,206.4 Mt
CO₂ emissionsCO₂ emissions, total excl. land use, Mt588.0 Mt20249/2034/37466.4 Mt612.9 Mt617.3 Mt−6.8%since 201417,388.8 Mt13,596.6 Mt39,632.7 Mt
MethaneMethane emissions, Mt CO₂e44.7 Mt202441/20310/3736.1 Mt39.6 Mt44.8 Mt+12%since 20142,697.1 Mt2,534.1 Mt9,536.5 Mt
Renewable energyRenewable energy, % of final energy consumption3.6%2021171/21227/370.7%1.3%3.6%+2.2 ppsince 201114.8%12.8%19.7%
Renewable powerRenewable electricity, % of output6.7%2021151/20625/352.0%1.8%6.3%+4.6 ppsince 201125.9%26.7%27.8%
PM2.5 exposurePM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure, µg/m³21.9 µg/m³202373/2008/3321.4 µg/m³22.7 µg/m³21.0 µg/m³−13%since 201327.3 µg/m³13.0 µg/m³32.9 µg/m³
Forest coverForest area, % of land area64.4%202423/21410/3567.1%65.7%64.5%−0.8 ppsince 201427.3%36.2%31.1%
FarmlandAgricultural land, % of land area16.0%2024165/21022/3620.5%18.2%16.6%−2.0 ppsince 201446.8%28.2%36.9%
Arable landArable land, % of land area13.3%202479/2068/3417.8%15.5%13.9%−1.8 ppsince 20148.7%9.0%10.7%
Protected areasTerrestrial and marine protected areas, % of territory5.9%2025137/21318/36··5.8%+3.3 ppsince 201522.0%22.2%17.0%
Water withdrawalsFreshwater withdrawals, % of internal resources45.0%202233/1771/2042.7%45.0%45.0%±0.0 ppsince 201212.1%6.4%9.0%
Freshwater per personRenewable internal freshwater per person, m³1,255 m³2022120/18321/231,380 m³1,309 m³1,251 m³−2.9%since 20124,306 m³10,983 m³5,393 m³
Cereal yieldCereal yield, kg per hectare6,544 kg/ha202422/1793/246,380 kg/ha6,202 kg/ha6,212 kg/ha−1.1%since 20145,430 kg/ha5,394 kg/ha4,229 kg/ha
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)“·” — no value reported within two years of that date. World rank counts countries with a recent value.

Better than ten years ago

Worse than ten years ago

Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).

neighbours

South Korea and its neighbours

Countries sharing a land border with South Korea. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.

IndicatorSouth KoreaChinaJapanNorth Korea
CO₂ per person11.36 t20249.32 t20247.84 t20242.50 t2024
GHG per person12.91 t202411.03 t20248.58 t20243.44 t2024
GHG emissions668.2 Mt202415,536.1 Mt20241,063.3 Mt202491.3 Mt2024
CO₂ emissions588.0 Mt202413,124.7 Mt2024972.3 Mt202466.2 Mt2024
Methane44.7 Mt20241,485.3 Mt202450.9 Mt202420.1 Mt2024
Renewable energy3.6%202115.2%20218.8%202114.7%2021
Renewable power6.7%202128.4%202121.1%202163.1%2021
PM2.5 exposure21.9 µg/m³202332.0 µg/m³202311.5 µg/m³202321.8 µg/m³2023
Forest cover64.4%202424.0%202468.3%202464.1%2024
China: environmentJapan: environmentNorth Korea: environment
Environment in East Asia & Pacificall 37 economies rankedEnvironment: high-income countries86 economies rankedEnvironment: world leaderboardstop and bottom countriesSouth Korea: all key statisticscountry profile