Plastic Waste Per Capita by Country (2010)

Daily per capita plastic waste generation for 186 countries in 2010, measured in kilograms per person per day.
# Entity
Code
Year
Per capita plastic waste
1 Albania ALB 2010 0.069
2 Algeria DZA 2010 0.144
3 Angola AGO 2010 0.062
4 Anguilla AIA 2010 0.252
5 Antigua and Barbuda ATG 2010 0.66
6 Argentina ARG 2010 0.183
7 Aruba ABW 2010 0.252
8 Australia AUS 2010 0.112
9 Bahamas BHS 2010 0.39
10 Bahrain BHR 2010 0.132
11 Bangladesh BGD 2010 0.034
12 Barbados BRB 2010 0.57
13 Belgium BEL 2010 0.08
14 Belize BLZ 2010 0.172
15 Benin BEN 2010 0.043
16 Bermuda BMU 2010 0.252
17 Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH 2010 0.144
18 Brazil BRA 2010 0.165
19 British Virgin Islands VGB 2010 0.252
20 Brunei BRN 2010 0.026
21 Bulgaria BGR 2010 0.154
22 Cambodia KHM 2010 0.066
23 Cameroon CMR 2010 0.046
24 Canada CAN 2010 0.093
25 Cape Verde CPV 2010 0.065
26 Cayman Islands CYM 2010 0.252
27 Channel Islands OWID_CIS 2010 0.252
28 Chile CHL 2010 0.119
29 China CHN 2010 0.121
30 Christmas Island CXR 2010 0.252
31 Cocos Islands CCK 2010 0.252
32 Colombia COL 2010 0.144
33 Comoros COM 2010 0.201
34 Congo COG 2010 0.069
35 Cook Islands COK 2010 0.144
36 Costa Rica CRI 2010 0.258
37 Cote d'Ivoire CIV 2010 0.103
38 Croatia HRV 2010 0.252
39 Cuba CUB 2010 0.089
40 Curacao CUW 2010 0.252
41 Cyprus CYP 2010 0.248
42 Democratic Republic of Congo COD 2010 0.045
43 Denmark DNK 2010 0.047
44 Djibouti DJI 2010 0.103
45 Dominica DMA 2010 0.149
46 Dominican Republic DOM 2010 0.144
47 Ecuador ECU 2010 0.147
48 Egypt EGY 2010 0.178
49 El Salvador SLV 2010 0.147
50 Equatorial Guinea GNQ 2010 0.144
51 Eritrea ERI 2010 0.045
52 Estonia EST 2010 0.176
53 Falkland Islands FLK 2010 0.252
54 Faroe Islands FRO 2010 0.252
55 Fiji FJI 2010 0.189
56 Finland FIN 2010 0.234
57 France FRA 2010 0.192
58 French Guiana GUF 2010 0.144
59 French Polynesia PYF 2010 0.252
60 Gabon GAB 2010 0.054
61 Gambia GMB 2010 0.048
62 Georgia GEO 2010 0.068
63 Germany DEU 2010 0.485
64 Ghana GHA 2010 0.04
65 Gibraltar GIB 2010 0.252
66 Greece GRC 2010 0.2
67 Greenland GRL 2010 0.252
68 Grenada GRD 2010 0.325
69 Guadeloupe GLP 2010 0.144
70 Guam GUM 2010 0.252
71 Guatemala GTM 2010 0.28
72 Guernsey GGY 2010 0.252
73 Guinea GIN 2010 0.03
74 Guinea-Bissau GNB 2010 0.054
75 Guyana GUY 2010 0.586
76 Haiti HTI 2010 0.09
77 Honduras HND 2010 0.189
78 Hong Kong HKG 2010 0.398
79 Iceland ISL 2010 0.281
80 India IND 2010 0.01
81 Indonesia IDN 2010 0.057
82 Iran IRN 2010 0.144
83 Iraq IRQ 2010 0.103
84 Ireland IRL 2010 0.43
85 Israel ISR 2010 0.297
86 Italy ITA 2010 0.134
87 Jamaica JAM 2010 0.034
88 Japan JPN 2010 0.171
89 Jordan JOR 2010 0.144
90 Kenya KEN 2010 0.027
91 Kiribati KIR 2010 0.103
92 Kuwait KWT 2010 0.686
93 Latvia LVA 2010 0.124
94 Lebanon LBN 2010 0.094
95 Liberia LBR 2010 0.084
96 Libya LBY 2010 0.144
97 Lithuania LTU 2010 0.132
98 Macao MAC 2010 0.368
99 Madagascar MDG 2010 0.016
100 Malaysia MYS 2010 0.198

Plastic Waste Per Capita by Country (2010) — Analysis

Kuwait leads the world at 0.69 kg/day — 69x more plastic waste per person than India (0.01 kg/day)

Small island nations dominate the top 6, with 5 of 6 being Caribbean states

Key Findings

  • Caribbean island nations generate far more plastic waste per capita than their size suggests — Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, and St. Lucia all rank in the top 6 globally
  • Germany (0.49 kg/day) generates 50% more plastic waste per person than the United States (0.34 kg/day), making it the highest major economy
  • The bottom 20 countries are almost entirely in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, each producing under 0.05 kg/day
  • Most countries (73 of 186) cluster in the 0.10–0.20 kg/day range, but the distribution has a long right tail driven by small island economies

Visualizations

10 Lowest Plastic Waste Generators Per Capita
Distribution of Countries by Waste Level
Plastic Waste Per Capita: Major Economies
Top 15 Plastic Waste Generators Per Capita

Expand Analysis

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