EU greenhouse gas emissions fell 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026 from the previous three months, while the bloc’s economy grew 0.8%, Eurostat reported on 13 November. Emissions declined in 18 member states, although the EU total remained 1.4% above its level a year earlier.
By the Editorial Team.
Emissions from economic activity and households totalled 833 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in the second quarter, down from 837 million tonnes in the first. Both the emissions figures and the 0.8% rise in EU GDP are seasonally adjusted.
Energy supply accounts for most of the quarterly decline
The energy supply sector, covering electricity, gas and heat, made the largest contribution to the reduction, subtracting 0.44 percentage points from the change in total emissions. Households contributed a further reduction of 0.22 percentage points, while transport and storage subtracted 0.01 points.
Rising emissions in other activities partly offset those declines. Services added 0.14 percentage points to the overall change, and manufacturing added 0.05 points.
Source: Eurostat, quarter-on-quarter change. Bar length shows the magnitude of the change; a minus sign indicates a decline.
Emissions fall in 18 member states
Emissions declined in 18 EU countries, increased in eight and were unchanged in one. Estonia recorded the largest quarterly reduction, at 15.5%, followed by Latvia at 10.6% and Finland at 7.6%.
The largest increases were in Malta, at 4.8%, Ireland, at 1%, and Romania, at 0.8%. All eight countries where emissions rose also recorded GDP growth.
Of the 18 countries that reduced emissions, 16 also saw their GDP rise or remain stable. The figures therefore show that most countries with falling emissions did not experience a decline in output during the quarter.
Emissions remain higher than a year earlier
The quarterly decline did not reverse the annual increase. Compared with the second quarter of 2025, EU emissions rose 1.4%, while GDP grew 1.5%.
On that annual measure, economic expansion was still accompanied by rising emissions, though emissions grew slightly more slowly than output. The quarterly figures also underline the role of energy supply in reducing emissions, even as manufacturing and parts of the services sector recorded increases.
Eurostat publishes quarterly greenhouse gas emission estimates by economic activity. The series allows changes in emissions to be compared with economic growth across member states.
Source: Eurostat, “EU economy greenhouse gas emissions: -0.5% in Q2 2026”, 13 November 2026.
English adaptation of the Polish original, published on 13 November 2026 at 10:55:17 UTC.
