⚠️ Unconfirmedenvironmental2022

Estimated electronic waste (e-waste) generated per capita

Country-by-country e-waste generated per person (kg). Based on the UN/UNITAR Global E-waste Monitor, highlighting where electronics waste is highest per capita.

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Key Insights

Global Average
8.8kg
Median: 6.7kg
Countries Covered
150
with available data
Highest
Kuwait
29.0kg
Lowest
Somalia
0.6kg
Top 5 Countries
1Kuwait29.0kg
2United Arab Emirates27.6kg
3Norway26.0kg
4United States of America24.9kg
5Iceland24.7kg
By Region
Oceania22.0kg(2 countries)
Europe17.0kg(32 countries)
North America14.0kg(4 countries)
Asia11.3kg(24 countries)
South America6.7kg(7 countries)
Key Findings
  • Per-capita e-waste generation varies by more than an order of magnitude across countries, reflecting large differences in consumption and replacement cycles.
  • High-income economies tend to have the highest kg-per-person e-waste generation, even when they have advanced recycling systems.
  • Low per-capita e-waste does not necessarily mean low environmental risk if informal handling and unmanaged dumping are common.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (0.6kg)High (35.0kg)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 8.8kg)

Oceania (2)
Europe (32)
North America (4)
Asia (24)
South America (7)
Africa (9)
Other (72)

About This Statistic

Electronic waste (e-waste) includes discarded electrical and electronic equipment such as phones, computers, appliances, screens, and batteries. Per-capita e-waste is a revealing indicator of consumption patterns, product lifetimes, repairability, and the effectiveness of collection and recycling systems.

The Global E-waste Monitor (produced by UNITAR/UNU, ITU and partners) compiles internationally comparable estimates of total e-waste generated and divides by population to produce kg per capita. High per-capita figures are typically seen in high-income economies with high device ownership and faster replacement cycles, while lower figures are common in lower-income countries—though informal reuse and second-hand imports can complicate interpretation.

Full Data

Rank Country Value
1Kuwait29.0kg
2United Arab Emirates27.6kg
3Norway26.0kg
4United States of America24.9kg
5Iceland24.7kg
6United Kingdom23.9kg
7Netherlands23.5kg
8Switzerland23.4kg
9Luxembourg23.0kg
10Sweden22.9kg
11Germany22.8kg
12New Zealand22.6kg
13Qatar22.0kg
14South Korea21.6kg
15Australia21.3kg
16Italy21.1kg
17Singapore20.8kg
18Canada20.4kg
19France20.1kg
20Denmark19.5kg
21Japan19.0kg
22Belgium18.9kg
23Spain18.5kg
24Ireland18.4kg
25Oman18.0kg
26Israel17.8kg
27Finland17.6kg
28Saudi Arabia17.5kg
29Greece17.1kg
30Poland16.7kg
31Cyprus16.2kg
32Hungary15.6kg
33Lithuania15.2kg
34Algeria15.1kg
35Slovenia15.0kg
36Latvia14.5kg
37Portugal14.2kg
38Estonia14.0kg
39Lebanon13.4kg
40Slovakia13.0kg
41Croatia12.7kg
42Mauritius12.4kg
43Czech Republic12.3kg
44Russian Federation12.3kg
45Maldives12.1kg
46Montenegro12.0kg
47Bosnia and Herzegovina12.0kg
48Afghanistan11.2kg
49Trinidad and Tobago11.0kg
50Libya10.8kg
51Ukraine10.8kg
52Chile10.5kg
53Andorra10.3kg
54Serbia10.2kg
55Romania10.1kg
56Seychelles10.0kg
57Jordan9.7kg
58Costa Rica9.4kg
59The Republic of North Macedonia9.2kg
60Uruguay9.0kg
61Islamic Republic of Iran8.9kg
62Armenia8.7kg
63Türkiye8.6kg
64Argentina8.4kg
65Moldova, Republic of8.2kg
66People's Republic of China8.1kg
67Tunisia8.0kg
68Austria8.0kg
69Mexico7.8kg
70Kazakhstan7.7kg
71Albania7.5kg
72Belarus7.2kg
73Mongolia7.1kg
74Egypt7.0kg
75Namibia6.7kg
76Georgia6.6kg
77Malaysia6.6kg
78South Africa6.4kg
79Colombia6.3kg
80Malta6.1kg
81Thailand6.0kg
82Suriname5.7kg
83Brazil5.6kg
84Venezuela5.5kg
85Panama5.2kg
86Botswana5.1kg
87Iraq5.0kg
88Indonesia4.9kg
89Paraguay4.9kg
90Kyrgyzstan4.6kg
91Morocco4.6kg
92Peru4.2kg
93Bolivia4.2kg
94Cuba4.0kg
95Bhutan3.6kg
96Philippines3.5kg
97Dominican Republic3.4kg
98Uzbekistan3.3kg
99Ecuador3.2kg
100Bulgaria3.1kg
101Vietnam3.1kg
102Guatemala2.9kg
103Cameroon2.8kg
104Honduras2.8kg
105El Salvador2.7kg
106Pakistan2.7kg
107India2.6kg
108Nepal2.6kg
109Central African Republic2.5kg
110Myanmar2.4kg
111Angola2.3kg
112Zimbabwe2.2kg
113Kenya2.1kg
114Nicaragua2.1kg
115Bangladesh2.1kg
116Cambodia2.0kg
117Cote d'Ivoire1.9kg
118Ghana1.8kg
119Tajikistan1.8kg
120Republic of the Congo1.7kg
121Nigeria1.6kg
122Papua New Guinea1.6kg
123Ethiopia1.5kg
124Madagascar1.5kg
125Zambia1.5kg
126Benin1.4kg
127Lesotho1.4kg
128Yemen1.4kg
129New Caledonia1.3kg
130Sudan1.3kg
131Uganda1.3kg
132Mauritania1.2kg
133Democratic Republic of the Congo1.1kg
134Guinea1.1kg
135Lao People's Democratic Republic1.1kg
136Mozambique1.1kg
137Senegal1.1kg
138Eritrea1.0kg
139Haiti1.0kg
140Mali1.0kg
141Togo1.0kg
142United Republic of Tanzania1.0kg
143Chad0.9kg
144Malawi0.9kg
145Sierra Leone0.9kg
146Burkina Faso0.9kg
147Liberia0.8kg
148Niger0.7kg
149Rwanda0.7kg
150Somalia0.6kg
Showing 150 of 150 countries

Topics

Data Source

This data comes from UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research) / Global E-waste Monitor (2022).

View Original Source