In the first quarter of 2023, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions totalled 941 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2e), a 2.9 percent decrease compared with the same quarter of 2022 (969 million tonnes of CO2e). This decrease took place simultaneously with a 1.2 percent increase in the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter of 2022.
This information comes from data on quarterly estimates for greenhouse gas emissions by economic activity published by Eurostat today.
In the first quarter of 2023, the economic sectors responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions were households (24 percent), manufacturing (20 percent), electricity and gas supply (19 percent), agriculture (13 percent), followed by transportation and storage (10 percent).
Data show that, compared with the first quarter of 2022, emissions decreased in 5 out of 9 economic sectors. The biggest decrease was registered in electricity and gas supply (-12.3 percent). The main sector in which emissions increased was transportation and storage (+7.2 percent).
Emissions in the first quarter of 2023 decreased in almost all EU countries when compared with the first quarter of 2022, except for Ireland (+9.1 percent), Latvia (+7.5 percent), Slovakia (+1.9 percent), Denmark (+1.7 percent) Sweden (+1.6 percent) and Finland (0.3 percent), where they increased. This group of EU members also saw their GDP increase.
The largest reductions in greenhouse gases were registered in Bulgaria (-15.2 percent), Estonia (-14.7 percent) and Slovenia (-9.6 percent).
Of the 21 EU countries that decreased their emissions, only 6 also decreased their GDP (Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, and Poland), meaning 15 EU countries (Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, Malta, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Romania, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia and Bulgaria) managed to decrease emissions while growing their GDP.
