In the second quarter of 2023, the EU economy's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 821 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq), a decrease of -5.3% compared to the same period of 2022 (867 million tonnes of CO2-eq). During the same period, the EU's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remained stable with a very small change (+0.05% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of 2022).

In the second quarter of 2023, the economic sectors responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions were "manufacturing" (23.5%), "households" (17.9%), "electricity, gas supply" (15.5%), "agriculture" (14.3%), followed by "transport and storage" (12.8%).

According to Eurostat data, compared to the second quarter of 2022, emissions decreased in 6 of the 9 economic sectors. The largest decrease was in "electricity, gas supply" (-22.0%). The main sector where emissions increased was "transport and storage" (+1.7%).

Greenhouse gas emissions decreased in 21 EU countries

In the second quarter of 2023, greenhouse gas emissions decreased in 21 EU countries compared to the second quarter of 2022. Increases were recorded in Malta (+7.7%), Latvia (+4.5%), Ireland (+3.6%), Lithuania (+3.0%), Cyprus (+1.7%) and Croatia (+1.0%). Of these six EU Member States, four recorded an increase in GDP: Malta (+3.9%), Croatia (+2.6%), Cyprus (+2.2%) and Lithuania (+0.7%).

The largest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions were recorded in Bulgaria (-23.7%), Estonia (-23.1%) and the Netherlands (-10.3%).