IPCC sector · BUILDINGS · 2023
Buildings: Global Emissions by Country
Residential and commercial heating, cooling, and appliance use.
Sector answer
Buildings ranks #6 / 7 by absolute EDGAR total and #4 / 7 by methane share among IPCC sectors in 2023; China leads country-level emissions at 710.34 MtCO₂e (24% of the top-20 sum) - sector size and methane intensity are not the same ladder.
- #6 / 7
- Sector Mt rank
- #4 / 7
- Methane-share rank
- China
- #1 country · 710.34 Mt
- 24%
- of top-20 sum
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 sectoral breakdown. AR6 GWP100; excludes LULUCF.
EDGAR sector concentration roll
BUILDINGS · 2023 · 2,988 Mt top-20
- VOL 2,988 Mt
- RANK-A #6 / 7
- RANK-CH4 #4 / 7
- LEAD China
- SHARE 24%
- GAS 93% Carbon
- PHOTO United States
- BOOK 7 sectors
Leader: China (710.34 Mt · 24% of top-20 sum)
Year-to-year inventory change
What changed between 2022 and 2023
- Buildings's tracked-economy sector total rose from 3,380 MtCO₂e in 2022 to 3,410 MtCO₂e in 2023 in the EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024) extract, a change of +30.2 MtCO₂e (+0.9%).
- Buildings's methane total across tracked economies rose from 188.4 MtCO₂e in 2022 to 189.2 MtCO₂e in 2023 in the EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024) extract, a change of +0.76 MtCO₂e (+0.4%).
According to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre EDGAR v8.0 corpus, Buildings ranks #6 of 7 IPCC sectors with live EDGAR rows by absolute greenhouse-gas total in 2023 (largest MtCO2e = #1) and #4 of 7 by methane share of the sector total (highest CH4 fraction = #1). How we place sectors.
Buildings vs all sectors by EDGAR greenhouse-gas total
Where this sector's 2023 EDGAR MtCO₂e sits among every IPCC sector with live rows (inventory mass, not policy priority)
3,410 14th percentile more MtCO₂e than 14% of 7 sectors
Sectors, banded by EDGAR MtCO₂e (AR6 GWP100)
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more sectors. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source EU EDGAR v8.0 · 2023
Top 15 emitters in buildings (2023, MtCO₂e)
EU EDGAR v8.0, highest first
Data from EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024 release)
Largest-country share in buildings
2023 · top-20 tracked total
Top 20 countries - Buildings (2023)
| Country | MtCO2e | Share of top 20 |
|---|---|---|
| China | 23.8% | |
| United States | 20.4% | |
| Russia | 9.1% | |
| India | 9.0% | |
| Iran | 6.1% | |
| Germany | 4.3% | |
| Japan | 3.7% | |
| Canada | 3.1% | |
| United Kingdom | 2.5% | |
| Turkey | 2.4% | |
| France | 2.1% | |
| Italy | 1.9% | |
| South Korea | 1.7% | |
| Poland | 1.6% | |
| Brazil | 1.6% | |
| Nigeria | 1.6% | |
| Kazakhstan | 1.4% | |
| Argentina | 1.4% | |
| Indonesia | 1.2% | |
| Pakistan | 1.1% |
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (Joint Research Centre, 2024). CC BY 4.0.
Buildings emissions trend (1970–2023, MtCO₂e)
Sum across all tracked countries, EU EDGAR v8.0
Data from EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024 release)
Gas mix in buildings
| Gas | MtCO2e |
|---|---|
| Carbon dioxide | |
| Methane | |
| Nitrous oxide |
Buildings: mid-book sector · China 710.34 MtCO₂e (24% of top-20)
China leads at 24% of the top-20 sum; the next emitters still matter for any sector-wide cut. Carbon dioxide leads the gas mix at 93% - this sector moves with combustion/process CO₂ tooling more than CH₄. Absolute Mt rank #6 / 7 diverges from methane-share rank #4 / 7 - size and CH₄ intensity are different ladders.
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (Joint Research Centre). Sector totals summed from emissions_records; AR6 GWP100; excludes LULUCF.
Methodology
Buildings is IPCC source category BUILDINGS. Country totals are summed from
emissions_records for that code; figures are EDGAR's reported annual values
(1970–2023), converted to CO₂-equivalent at AR6 GWP100.
This sector sits in the middle third of live EDGAR sector mass (3,410 MtCO₂e corpus total). EDGAR's main GHG dataset excludes LULUCF. See methodology for the full pipeline.
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (Joint Research Centre, 2024) - global bottom-up sectoral model, CC BY 4.0 license.
FAQ
What does the buildings sector include?
Residential and commercial heating, cooling, and appliance use.
Which country emits the most in the buildings sector?
China leads buildings emissions in 2023 at 710.34 MtCO2e (24% of the top-20 sum) per EU EDGAR v8.0.
Which gas dominates buildings emissions?
Carbon dioxide dominates the buildings sector with 3,162.16 MtCO2e in 2023 (93% of sector total), weighted via AR6 GWP100.
Data vintage: EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024 release), 2023 data year. Sector emissions summed from EDGAR records for the focal year; LULUCF handling follows the sector taxonomy.