Maptheory
⚠️ Unconfirmedenvironmental2016

Annual per-capita municipal solid waste generated

Municipal solid waste generated per person per year (kg). Comparable cross-country indicator from the World Bank’s What a Waste 2.0 dataset.

Source: World Bank•139 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average
321.8kg/person/year
Median: 268.0kg/person/year
Countries Covered
139
with available data
Highest
Denmark
781.0kg/person/year
Lowest
Country 8000
74.0kg/person/year
Top 5 Countries
1Denmark781.0kg/person/year
2Afghanistan773.0kg/person/year
3United Arab Emirates744.0kg/person/year
4Singapore734.0kg/person/year
5Kuwait732.0kg/person/year
By Region
North America711.0kg/person/year(2 countries)
Oceania704.0kg/person/year(1 countries)
Europe478.9kg/person/year(24 countries)
Asia414.7kg/person/year(26 countries)
South America337.9kg/person/year(7 countries)
Key Findings
  • •High-income, highly urbanized countries typically generate several hundred kilograms of MSW per person annually.
  • •Some small, high-consumption economies report extremely high per-capita waste generation (700+ kg/person/year).
  • •Many low-income countries report under 200 kg/person/year, though under-collection and under-measurement can mask true generation.
  • •The indicator is strongly linked to consumption patterns and urban service coverage, making it useful for planning waste systems and reduction policies.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (79.0kg/person/year)High (773.0kg/person/year)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 321.8kg/person/year)

North America (2)
Oceania (1)
Europe (24)
Asia (26)
South America (7)
Africa (9)
Other (70)

About This Statistic

This statistic measures how much municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated per person in a year, expressed in kilograms per capita. MSW generally includes household waste and waste from commercial and institutional sources, and it is one of the most tangible indicators of consumption patterns, urbanization, and the effectiveness of waste prevention policies.

Cross-country comparisons are informative but not perfect: definitions of “municipal waste,” data coverage (urban vs. national), and reporting quality vary widely. Still, per-capita MSW generation is widely used by governments and researchers to track waste pressures, plan collection and disposal capacity, and prioritize recycling and waste-reduction strategies.

Full Data

Rank ↑Country ↕Value ↕
1Denmark781.0kg/person/year
2Afghanistan773.0kg/person/year
3United Arab Emirates744.0kg/person/year
4Singapore734.0kg/person/year
5Kuwait732.0kg/person/year
6Saudi Arabia724.0kg/person/year
7Country 6820724.0kg/person/year
8Country 6821724.0kg/person/year
9Bahrain719.0kg/person/year
10Switzerland716.0kg/person/year
11United States of America716.0kg/person/year
12Qatar710.0kg/person/year
13Canada706.0kg/person/year
14Australia704.0kg/person/year
15Israel674.0kg/person/year
16Iceland656.0kg/person/year
17Germany633.0kg/person/year
18Ireland600.0kg/person/year
19France546.0kg/person/year
20South Africa540.0kg/person/year
21Netherlands521.0kg/person/year
22Islamic Republic of Iran517.0kg/person/year
23Slovenia513.0kg/person/year
24Greece498.0kg/person/year
25Belgium496.0kg/person/year
26Finland493.0kg/person/year
27Italy487.0kg/person/year
28Hong Kong475.0kg/person/year
29Portugal466.0kg/person/year
30Argentina465.0kg/person/year
31United Kingdom463.0kg/person/year
32Spain455.0kg/person/year
33Taiwan, Province of China453.0kg/person/year
34Sweden431.0kg/person/year
35Macao428.0kg/person/year
36Türkiye424.0kg/person/year
37Norway409.0kg/person/year
38Japan408.0kg/person/year
39Croatia403.0kg/person/year
40People's Republic of China395.0kg/person/year
41Russian Federation389.0kg/person/year
42Chile384.0kg/person/year
43Brazil383.0kg/person/year
44Malaysia365.0kg/person/year
45Serbia361.0kg/person/year
46Eritrea356.0kg/person/year
47Uruguay356.0kg/person/year
48Belarus354.0kg/person/year
49Czech Republic351.0kg/person/year
50Montenegro348.0kg/person/year
51Slovakia348.0kg/person/year
52South Korea346.0kg/person/year
53Poland329.0kg/person/year
54Syrian Arab Republic321.0kg/person/year
55Jordan319.0kg/person/year
56Paraguay315.0kg/person/year
57Bosnia and Herzegovina306.0kg/person/year
58Mongolia305.0kg/person/year
59Country 4960305.0kg/person/year
60Armenia302.0kg/person/year
61Algeria298.0kg/person/year
62Vietnam283.0kg/person/year
63Egypt282.0kg/person/year
64India277.0kg/person/year
65Peru276.0kg/person/year
66Hungary272.0kg/person/year
67Iraq270.0kg/person/year
68Libya270.0kg/person/year
69Mauritius269.0kg/person/year
70Kyrgyzstan268.0kg/person/year
71Lebanon268.0kg/person/year
72Ukraine265.0kg/person/year
73Botswana260.0kg/person/year
74Cameroon259.0kg/person/year
75Ecuador258.0kg/person/year
76Namibia258.0kg/person/year
77Thailand254.0kg/person/year
78Tunisia251.0kg/person/year
79Georgia250.0kg/person/year
80North Korea247.0kg/person/year
81Gabon245.0kg/person/year
82Colombia243.0kg/person/year
83Moldova, Republic of240.0kg/person/year
84Bolivia240.0kg/person/year
85Bhutan228.0kg/person/year
86Uzbekistan217.0kg/person/year
87Somalia212.0kg/person/year
88Bermuda212.0kg/person/year
89Country 7061212.0kg/person/year
90Azerbaijan211.0kg/person/year
91Yemen206.0kg/person/year
92Turkmenistan203.0kg/person/year
93Republic of the Congo202.0kg/person/year
94Zambia202.0kg/person/year
95Pakistan197.0kg/person/year
96Lao People's Democratic Republic190.0kg/person/year
97Sri Lanka189.0kg/person/year
98Nigeria189.0kg/person/year
99Morocco184.0kg/person/year
100Cambodia180.0kg/person/year
101Chad179.0kg/person/year
102Equatorial Guinea175.0kg/person/year
103Seychelles175.0kg/person/year
104Kenya174.0kg/person/year
105Democratic Republic of the Congo172.0kg/person/year
106Ghana170.0kg/person/year
107Tajikistan170.0kg/person/year
108Senegal169.0kg/person/year
109Sierra Leone166.0kg/person/year
110Mali165.0kg/person/year
111Bangladesh163.0kg/person/year
112Angola162.0kg/person/year
113Myanmar158.0kg/person/year
114Philippines158.0kg/person/year
115Cote d'Ivoire151.0kg/person/year
116Republic of The Gambia150.0kg/person/year
117Benin148.0kg/person/year
118Austria148.0kg/person/year
119Indonesia147.0kg/person/year
120Togo140.0kg/person/year
121Liberia131.0kg/person/year
122United Republic of Tanzania131.0kg/person/year
123Honduras131.0kg/person/year
124Nepal128.0kg/person/year
125Guinea127.0kg/person/year
126Djibouti120.0kg/person/year
127Madagascar117.0kg/person/year
128Sudan114.0kg/person/year
129Malawi113.0kg/person/year
130Guinea-Bissau110.0kg/person/year
131Burkina Faso110.0kg/person/year
132Burundi109.0kg/person/year
133Ethiopia108.0kg/person/year
134Mozambique108.0kg/person/year
135Niger92.0kg/person/year
136Rwanda79.0kg/person/year
137Country 646079.0kg/person/year
138Uganda74.0kg/person/year
139Country 800074.0kg/person/year
Showing 139 of 139 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day#ai-generated#waste#municipal solid waste#consumption#recycling#landfill#circular economy#urbanization

Data Source

This data comes from World Bank (2016).

View Original Source