In this paper, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from 17 countries of the Middle East and North Africa are studied using Data Envelopment Analysis. Four indicators for the year 1996 are employed in the analysis. The analysis shows that Sudan, Bahrain and Oman are considered efficient, and Saudi Arabia is rated as the least efficient under constant returns to scale (CRS) assumption. Mauritania and Israel are considered efficient under variable returns to scale (VRS) assumption, indicating that the CRS inefficiency of these two countries is due to the fact that they are not operating at the best possible scale size. The patterns of changes in efficiency of the countries are further analyzed using Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) approach for the period of 1992-1996. The analysis shows that there is progress in achieving higher values of output-side indicators and in achieving lower values of the input-side indicators in the year 1996 compared to 1992 for 5 out of the 17 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Oman and Syria). (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.