Bhutan Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

soil erosion; limited access to potable water; wildlife conservation; industrial pollution; waste disposal

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 35.32 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 1.26 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.11 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas

Land use

agricultural land: 13.6% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2.6% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 10.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 85.5% (2018 est.)

other: 0.9% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 44.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.52% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 1.89% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 111,314 tons (2007 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 957 tons (2016 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 0.9% (2016 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 17 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 3 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 318 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

78 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Bhutan on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bhutan 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bhutan 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.