Alina Oprea • 23 February, 2023 at 12:09 PM
In the third quarter of 2022, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions totalled 854 million tonnes of CO2-eq, a 2% increase compared with the same quarter of 2021. This increase is largely related to the effect of the economic rebound leading to gross domestic product (GDP) growth after the sharp decrease in activity due to the COVID-19 crisis. The economic sectors responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions were manufacturing (23%), electricity, gas supply (21%), households and agriculture (both 14%), followed by transportation and storage (13%).
In fact, compared with the pre-pandemic third quarter of 2019, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 4% (from 889 to 854 million tonnes of CO2-eq).
This information comes from data on quarterly estimates for greenhouse gas emissions by economic activity published by Eurostat. Quarterly estimates of greenhouse gas emissions complement quarterly socio-economic data, such as GDP or employment. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on quaterly greenhouse gas emissions.
In the EU, GDP grew slightly more than greenhouse gas emissions in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the same quarter in 2021 (+2% for greenhouse gas emissions, +3% for GDP).
Most EU countries saw a growth in both GDP and emissions, but some countries even managed to decrease emissions while GDP grew.
In the third quarter of 2022, the economic sectors responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions were ‘manufacturing' (23%), ‘electricity, gas supply' (21%), ‘households' and ‘agriculture' (both 14%), followed by ‘transportation and storage' (13%).
Emissions in the third quarter of 2022 increased in 16 of the 27 EU members when compared with the same quarter of 2021, indicating a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the EU countries with increased emissions in the same comparison period were Ireland (+17%), Estonia and Malta (both +8%).
On the other hand, the largest decreases in emissions were recorded in Lithuania (-6%), Slovakia and the Netherlands (both -5%).