EU greenhouse gas emissions increased in the second quarter of 2022

Rising emissions may be related to post-pandemic economic rebound and GDP growth

In the second quarter of 2022, greenhouse gas emissions from the EU economy amounted to 905 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq), an increase of 3% compared to the same quarter in 2021. The documented increase is largely related to the effect of the economic upturn, which can be drawn from gross domestic product (GDP) growth, following the sharp decline in activity due to the COVID-19 crisis.

This information comes from data on quarterly estimates of 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 the findings of Statistics Explained’s more detailed article on quarterly greenhouse gas emissions.

In the second quarter of 2022, the economic sectors responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions were manufacturing (23%), electricity and gas supply (19%) and households (17%), followed by transport and storage (14%) and agriculture (13%).

Greenhouse gas emissions increased in most sectors compared to the same period in 2021, except in households and agriculture, which decreased by 8% (-13 million tons of CO_2-eq.) and 1% (-1 million tons of CO_2-eq.), respectively. The largest increases were recorded in transport and storage (+22% or 22 million tonnes of CO_2-eq.), electricity and gas supply (+6% or 10 million tons of CO_2-eq.) and services (+6% or 4 million tons of CO_2-eq.)

Source: Retema