Vietnam: Greenhouse-Gas Emissions

Why this matters

In 2023, Vietnam emitted 525 MtCO₂e of greenhouse gases (EU EDGAR v8.0, excluding land use). Industry was the single largest source at 32% of the national total, and carbon dioxide the dominant gas at 71%. Per-capita emissions of 5.35 tCO₂e per person normalise across population size, useful for cross-country comparison but distinct from a country's absolute climate footprint. Within East Asia & Pacific (12 tracked economies), it ranks #10 for per-capita emissions. Among lower middle income economies (11 tracked), it ranks #4 per person. Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024); per-capita and cohort ranks derived from EDGAR totals and World Bank region/income-group classifications.

Absolute totals like Vietnam's show where the largest cuts to the global atmospheric budget are physically possible; per-capita figures are the fairer basis for comparing responsibility across countries of very different population size; emission intensity per unit of GDP (1.22 t per $1K) shows how efficiently the economy converts output into emissions. Vietnam's transition path follows from its sector mix - an economy led by industry faces different policy levers than one dominated by agricultural methane or industrial process emissions.