How much carbon comes with every unit of electricity you use? It depends almost entirely on where you live. The same kilowatt-hour can come with under 30 grams of greenhouse gases in Norway, or more than 600 grams in India or South Africa. Pick your country below to see where it ranks among 209 countries and economies.
The 10 cleanest and 10 most carbon-intensive grids
Cleanest electricity (g CO₂e/kWh)
Most carbon-intensive (g CO₂e/kWh)
The pattern is easy to read. Countries at the top run on hydropower, nuclear, geothermal or wind. Countries at the bottom burn mostly coal, or oil and gas with old, inefficient plants.
Full table: electricity carbon intensity by country
Each row shows the latest usable year in the Ember dataset we downloaded on 24 October 2026. Where 2025 was excluded for a data anomaly, we show the latest valid year and mark it 2025 flagged.
Can I use these numbers in the calculator?
The main calculator loads these same Ember factors itself. Choose your country and year there rather than copying numbers across. Pick the calculator route "Emissions from my bill, with country data" to apply them to your actual bill.
These are lifecycle CO₂e values. They include emissions from building power plants and supplying fuel, and they count all greenhouse gases, not only carbon dioxide. Do not enter them into a CO₂-only field, such as the standalone historical electricity calculator.
Open the main calculatorFrequently asked questions
What does g CO₂e per kWh mean?
It is the mass of greenhouse gases, in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent, released for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated. Lower is cleaner.
Why is my country's number different from my utility bill?
These are national generation averages. Your supplier's mix, imports from neighbouring countries, grid losses and backup generators can all change the figure for your household.
Why do some countries show a 2024 year instead of 2025?
Our site's screening rule flagged 11 country-year records for 2025 as a data anomaly (negative intensity or a generation share outside 0 to 100 percent). For those countries we show the latest usable year and mark the row 2025 flagged. This is our screening decision, not an official Ember flag or a prediction of a future correction.
Does switching off appliances matter more in some countries?
Yes. Saving 100 kWh avoids about 3 kg CO₂e in Norway but about 67 kg in India at these intensities. Energy efficiency has the biggest climate payoff where the grid is most carbon-intensive.
Where does the data come from?
Ember Yearly Electricity Data under CC BY 4.0, downloaded 24 October 2026. A snapshot and a file fingerprint ship with every result the calculator exports, so you can reproduce any figure later.
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