Carbon Leakage Dashboard
Production-based vs consumption-based CO₂ divergence across 12 countries from 1990 to 2023. Positive gaps indicate consumption emissions exceed territorial emissions; negative gaps point to exporter-heavy production.
Average gap in 2023
+52.1 Mt
Sample-level mean
Across 12 countries in the latest year.
Positive-gap share
58%
7 of 12 countries
More countries sit on the importing side than the exporting side.
Widest positive gap
+513.3 Mt
United States
Largest latest-year gap where consumption exceeds production.
Widest negative gap
-99.6 Mt
Vietnam
Largest latest-year exporter-style gap in the sample.
How to read the gap
- A positive gap means consumption-based emissions are above territorial emissions, suggesting the country consumes more CO₂-intensive output than it directly produces.
- In this sample, persistent positive-gap countries are United Kingdom, Uruguay, while persistent negative-gap countries are Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago.
- Notable sign-switchers include United States, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Zambia, showing that leakage signals can intensify or reverse over time rather than stay fixed.
Requested country snapshot
United States
Latest gap +513.3 Mt
+513.3 Mt
Avg +238.6 Mt
United Kingdom
Latest gap +179.3 Mt
+179.3 Mt
Avg +149.4 Mt
United Arab Emirates
Latest gap +37.6 Mt
+37.6 Mt
Avg +24.0 Mt
These three countries are also highlighted in the trend line chart and the latest-year ranking table below.
Sample-wide shift in the gap over time
Bars show the average gap across tracked countries; lines show the median and the share of countries with positive gaps.
Gap trajectory for the United States, United Kingdom, and UAE
A direct comparison of how the leakage signal evolves for the requested focus countries.
Latest-year production vs consumption for positive-gap countries
The farther the consumption marker sits to the right of production, the larger the positive gap.
Average gap by country, 1990–2023
This ranking separates chronic net-importer patterns from chronic net-exporter patterns in the sample.
Distribution of country-year gaps
Positive and negative records are split to show how often the sample clusters on each side of zero.
Country heatmap of annual gaps
Countries are ordered by average gap, making persistent positive and negative regimes easier to spot.
2023 ranking table
| Country | Production CO₂ | Consumption CO₂ | Gap | Gap / production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Focus | 4,918.4 | 5,431.7 | +513.3 Mt | +10.4% |
| United Kingdom Focus | 307.8 | 487.1 | +179.3 Mt | +58.2% |
| United Arab Emirates Focus | 210.4 | 248.1 | +37.6 Mt | +17.9% |
| Ukraine | 139.3 | 166.3 | +27.0 Mt | +19.4% |
| Uruguay | 7.6 | 10.8 | +3.2 Mt | +41.4% |
| Zimbabwe | 13.4 | 15.3 | +1.9 Mt | +14.0% |
| Zambia | 11.8 | 12.7 | +0.9 Mt | +7.4% |
| Tunisia | 31.7 | 30.2 | -1.6 Mt | -4.9% |
| Turkey | 486.9 | 483.0 | -3.9 Mt | -0.8% |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 35.5 | 22.4 | -13.2 Mt | -37.1% |
| Venezuela | 119.6 | 100.5 | -19.1 Mt | -15.9% |
| Vietnam | 347.4 | 247.8 | -99.6 Mt | -28.7% |