Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Unit E.2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
5 r. Alphonse Weicker - bâtim. Joseph Bech, 2721 Kirchberg Luxembourg
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
30 June 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
30 June 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
30 June 2025
3.1. Data description
This metadata file refers to four datasets on land use footprints:
1. Land use footprints [env_ac_landfp]
The dataset presents estimates of land use footprints worldwide. The land footprint estimates the total land area, both within and outside the region considered, that is required to fulfil domestic consumption. The dataset presents land use in the rest of the world (extra-EU) serving European Union (EU) consumption, land use in the EU serving consumption in the EU and land use serving consumption in the rest of the world. It also presents the total land use from production and consumption (i.e. footprint) perspectives.
2. Domestic land use in the EU by product [env_landfp_dom]
The dataset presents the details of domestic land use in the EU. It covers land used to grow agriculture and timber-based products. These products can serve the EU economy, but can also be exported.
3. Land use footprints embodied in imports to the EU [env_landfp_imp]
The dataset presents the land use embodied in imports to the EU, detailed by traded product (in HS2022 classification) and by country of origin.
4. Land use footprints embodied in EU exports [env_landfp_exp]
The dataset includes the land use embodied in exports from the EU, detailed by traded product (in HS2022 classification).
The estimation methodology is referred to as physical-based accounting approach. For the calculation of the land use footprint of the EU [env_ac_landfp], the point of departure is the domestic land use in the EU [env_landfp_dom], to which land use associated with imports into the EU are added [env_landfp_imp] and land use associated with EU exports are deducted [env_landfp_exp].
The land uses associated with imports and exports are estimated through product-specific land use coefficients. The latter are derived from literature and are multiplied with trade data derived from international trade in goods statistics (ITGS).
In all datasets, three land types are covered (cropland, grassland and forest land). The number of dimensions and respective coverage can differ between datasets (see 3.2).
3.2. Classification system
The dataset land use footprints [env_ac_landfp] has five dimensions:
1) Country of origin [C_ORIG]: place of origin, where the land use takes place. This dimension has three entities: European Union (EU), extra-EU and world.
2) Country of destination [C_DEST]: the geographical entity where the consumption takes place. This dimension includes three entities: European Union (EU), extra-EU and world.
3) Land use type [INDIC_ENV]: the type of land associated with the production and consumption of goods and services. This dimension includes three types: cropland, grassland and forest land.
4) Period of time [TIME]: data are annual.
5) Unit [UNIT]: hectares
The dataset domestic land use in the EU by product [env_landfp_dom] has seven dimensions:
1) Country of origin [C_ORIG]: place of origin, where the land use takes place. This dimension includes: European Union (EU) and EU Member States.
2) Country of destination [C_DEST]: the geographical entity where the consumption takes place. This dimension includes only the aggregate ‘all countries of the world’.
3) Land use type [INDIC_ENV]: the type of land associated with the production and consumption of goods and services. This dimension has three types: cropland, grassland and forestry land.
4) Product [AGRIPROD]: products according to the classification of agriculture statistics
5) Product group [PRODGRP]: products are grouped by type, based on their origin
6) Period of time [TIME]: data are annual.
7) Unit [UNIT]: hectare
The dataset land use embodied in imports into the EU by product(HS 2022) [env_landfp_imp] has seven dimensions:
1) Country of origin [C_ORIG]: place of origin, where the land use takes place. This dimension includes a long list of trade partners from outside the EU.
2) Country of destination [C_DEST]: the geographical entity where the consumption takes place. This dimension includes only European Union (EU).
3) Land use type [INDIC_ENV]: the type of land associated with the production and consumption of goods and services. This dimension has three types: cropland, grassland and forestry land.
4) Product [HS22]: products according to the HS (Harmonised System) nomenclature, 2022 edition
5) Product group [PRODGRP]: products are grouped by type, based on their origin
6) Period of time [TIME]: data are annual.
7) Unit [UNIT]: hectare
The dataset land use embodied in EU exports by product (HS 2022) [env_landfp_exp] has seven dimensions:
1) Country of origin [C_ORIG]: place of origin, where the land use takes place. This dimension has one entity: European Union (EU).
2) Country of destination [C_DEST]: the geographical entity where the consumption takes place. This dimension has one entity: extra-EU.
3) Land use type [INDIC_ENV]: the type of land associated with the production and consumption of goods and services. This dimension has three types: cropland, grassland and forestry land.
4) Product [HS22]: products according to the HS (Harmonised System) nomenclature, 2022 edition
5) Product group [PRODGRP]: products are grouped by type, based on their origin
6) Period of time [TIME]: data are annual.
7) Unit [UNIT]: hectare
3.3. Coverage - sector
Not applicable.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The land use footprint concept refers to the amount of land use, direct and indirect, needed to fulfil the consumption of a country (or region), or in other words, the land use embedded in the products that are consumed in a country in one year. The land use footprint of a country takes into account the land use domestically required and the land use internationally required to fulfil a country’s consumption.
The resulting cropland, grassland and forest land footprints are calculated by adding domestic production [env_landfp_dom] with imports [env_landfp_imp] and deducting exports [env_landfp_exp].
Three types of land use are considered: cropland, grassland and forest land.
Cropland concerns the harvested area necessary to grow annual and permanent crops (fallow land is excluded from this definition), as defined in Eurostat’s Annual Crop Statistics Handbook (2023) and in line with the definition of “Area harvested” applied in FAOSTAT.
The EU’s domestic cropland use is calculated by considering the harvested area (apro_cpsh1). Cropland embodied in imported primary crops is calculated based on the imported quantity of each crop (after subtracting the quantity re-exported as such or after transformation) and its yield in the country of production. Cropland embodied in exported primary crops is calculated considering the amount of each crop exported outside the EU (after subtracting the quantity originating from imports) and the average EU yield.
In this dataset, grassland refers to the hypothetical area needed for grazing if a country's grazing land were used at maximum intensity, based on the current productivity of natural grazing land (i.e. without use of fertilisers). This assumes that livestock can utilise up to 75% of the aboveground Net Primary Productivity (NPP), leaving the remaining 25% for the ecosystem.
The domestic grassland is modelled starting from the EU production of milk (apro_mk_farm), bovine meat and sheep meat (apro_mt_pann).
Traded quantities of plant-based products, livestock products and fish products are modelled in order to derive the embodied grassland and cropland areas.
Forest land – in this data set – refers to a hypothetical use of land, equivalent to the consumption of timber and timber-based products (‘net annual increment approach’) under the assumption of non-depleting stocks. This approach uses the net annual increment (NAI) of forests (i.e. yearly growth per unit of area) to estimate the area needed to grow the volume of timber consumed per year. The value is multiplied by a scaling factor of 0.9 to calculate the related “forest land yield” under the assumption of maximum intensity levels with non-depleting stock (i.e. assuming that annual harvests correspond to 90% of annual growth). NAI values taken from this model refer to all forest types, including both production forests and forest plantations. As the timber consumed is calculated in m3 and the NAI per hectare in [m3]/[ha*y] the result of the ratio between the two is measured in [ha*y]. This can also be interpreted as the forest area equivalent needed to grow within one year the volume of timber consumed over one year.
EU domestic forest land is calculated considering volumes of roundwood removals under bark, taken from Eurostat data set for_remov at Member State level. Then a country-specific coefficient is applied to convert them into an over bark equivalent volume. These volumes are divided by the NAI per hectare in each Member State to derive the forest land equivalent required for domestic timber production. Finally, the total EU27 forest land is calculated by adding up Member State data.
Forest land embedded in trade, is derived from the traded amounts of primary and processed timber-based products. These are converted into equivalent volumes of primary raw wood, by means of technical coefficients, and then re-allocated to the country where the wood was extracted, by using data on trade of roundwood and on extraction of wood in each country. The equivalent volumes of primary raw wood are then converted from under bark to over bark using technical coefficients.
Product group [PRODGRP] includes the following classes:
Primary livestock contains all products derived from livestock activities that did not undergo further processing (e.g. eggs, live bovine, live horses).
Processed livestock refers to products derived from livestock activities undergoing processing (e.g. dairy products, leather, wool) and (in one case) products derived from combining livestock products and plant-based products.
Fish products are all products derived from fish farming activities (e.g. trout fillets).
Primary crops refer to crops in their unprocessed state (e.g. wheat, maize),
Plant-based products are obtained from primary crops after some processing stages (e.g. flour, cotton yarn, wine).
Primary timber includes all products derived from timber that did not undergo further processing (e.g. wood in the rough),
Processed timber covers all products derived from timber that underwent further processing (e.g. wood panels, paper).
The project report provides more details on concepts, definitions, estimation methodology, and data sources.
3.5. Statistical unit
The EU economy.
3.6. Statistical population
Not applicable, because the data are modelling estimates.
3.7. Reference area
The four datasets present data for the aggregated EU economy. The dataset on domestic land use [env_landfp_dom] also has data at Member State level.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data set covers the period from 2014 to three years before the current year (t-3).
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The unit presented for the three land use types is hectare (ha).
Cropland is measured as the area occupied in the reference year.
Grassland is expressed in terms of the area hypothetically required if grazing land in a country were used at maximum intensity given its current natural grazing land productivity.
Forest land considers the area and time occupied for the production of timber and timber-based products consumed in the reference year. This area is calculated taking into account the time needed to grow the volume of timber consumed each year under the assumption of tree growth at maximum intensity levels with non-depleting stocks. As the timber consumed is calculated in m3 and the Net Annual Increment (NAI) per hectare in [m3]/[ha*y], the result of the ratio between the two is measured in [ha*y] (see 3.4 above). However, for presentation purposes, the unit displayed for the land type forest land is also hectare.
The data refer to the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Not applicable with respect to the modelling results.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
No confidentiality.
8.1. Release calendar
Eurostat intends to publish in April-May.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through a database update and on Eurostat's website.
Land use embodied in imports into the EU by product (HS 2022) [env_landfp_imp]
Land use embodied in EU exports by product (HS 2022) [env_landfp_exp]
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
The methodology is documented in the project report available in JRC’s online repository.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
A comparison was performed between the estimated figures and results from existing literature: see chapter ‘5.7 Comparison of land footprint results at EU level’ of the project report.
11.1. Quality assurance
The model that is used to derive the aggregate EU results has been developed by researchers with experience in the field of environmental footprints and modelling.
A comparison was performed between the estimated figures and results from existing literature: see chapter ‘4.5 Comparison of land footprint results at EU level’ of the project report.
When comparing the results yielded by the model with the existing literature, cropland is the type of land use for which the results of different studies conducted at EU level converge the most.
For forest land, the results of this current work are aligned with the results of another study (O’Brien, M., & Bringezu, S. (2018)) adopting a physical-based accounting approach.
In the case of the EU grassland footprint, lower convergence between studies was found. In any case, the results from this study presented bigger convergence with those from two studies, one adopting a physical accounting approach (Bringezu et al. (2012)) and another adopting a physical accounting approach based on process-based Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (Sala et al. (2019)). This demonstrates that the grassland footprint estimation is affected by higher uncertainty due to several assumptions needed to estimate it, because of a lower data availability compared to the information needed to derive cropland and forest land footprints.
The Environmental Accounts Working Group, encompassing representatives of all Member States, Eurostat and other stakeholders, discusses quality improvements.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Land footprint results are important to understand how much pressure the EU consumption of services and goods puts on third countries in terms of the necessary land use to satisfy those needs.
The users include policy makers in environmental ministries, environmental organisations, journalists, students, and interested citizens.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
There are no systematic studies of user satisfaction. Eurostat has regular hearings with European policymakers and contacts with the research community and other stakeholders to monitor the relevance of the statistics produced and identify new priorities.
12.3. Completeness
The three types of land use were selected as they are the main uses of land for human activities. Artificial land was excluded as currently no data is available to robustly link artificial uses of land with production activities.
In what concerns the three selected land use types, data can be considered complete and cover a wide range of products (611) and extra-EU geographical entities (177).
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The data is modelled and the underlying assumptions and modelling techniques are transparent (see the project report for a more detailed description of the model).
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable
14.1. Timeliness
Eurostat intends to disseminate the results 29 months after the most recent reference year ended.
14.2. Punctuality
Not applicable, because there is no release calendar.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Geographical coverage is limited to EU and Extra-EU (i.e. all non-EU countries). For domestic land use, data exists also at Member State level.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The comparability over time is good because the same method and data sources are applied to all reference years and the figures are re-estimated for the complete time-series each year.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Domestic land use (crop land) of the EU is coherent with Eurostat crop statistics, see also 3.4 above.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal coherence is given within the model architecture.
Eurostat had an administrative arrangement with the Joint Research Centre to undertake the model estimations. The related costs were estimated to be around 120 kEUR per year. Currently, some estimated 40 working-days of Eurostat staff are spent per year.
17.1. Data revision - policy
To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy has been established: the estimation model is revised on an irregular basis.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Data are usually not revised after publication.
Errors are assessed for seriousness to determine whether they should trigger a correction of already disseminated data.
18.1. Source data
The project report provides a detailed overview of data sources employed by the estimation model.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Not applicable since data are estimated.
18.3. Data collection
Not applicable since data are estimated.
18.4. Data validation
Data are validated for internal consistency (comparison of totals with the sum of details), both at the product and country level.
A comparison was performed between the estimated figures and results from existing literature: see chapter ‘4.5 Comparison of land footprint results at EU level’ of the project report.
18.5. Data compilation
The project report provides a detailed overview of data compilation undertaken to estimate data.
This metadata file refers to four datasets on land use footprints:
1. Land use footprints [env_ac_landfp]
The dataset presents estimates of land use footprints worldwide. The land footprint estimates the total land area, both within and outside the region considered, that is required to fulfil domestic consumption. The dataset presents land use in the rest of the world (extra-EU) serving European Union (EU) consumption, land use in the EU serving consumption in the EU and land use serving consumption in the rest of the world. It also presents the total land use from production and consumption (i.e. footprint) perspectives.
2. Domestic land use in the EU by product [env_landfp_dom]
The dataset presents the details of domestic land use in the EU. It covers land used to grow agriculture and timber-based products. These products can serve the EU economy, but can also be exported.
3. Land use footprints embodied in imports to the EU [env_landfp_imp]
The dataset presents the land use embodied in imports to the EU, detailed by traded product (in HS2022 classification) and by country of origin.
4. Land use footprints embodied in EU exports [env_landfp_exp]
The dataset includes the land use embodied in exports from the EU, detailed by traded product (in HS2022 classification).
The estimation methodology is referred to as physical-based accounting approach. For the calculation of the land use footprint of the EU [env_ac_landfp], the point of departure is the domestic land use in the EU [env_landfp_dom], to which land use associated with imports into the EU are added [env_landfp_imp] and land use associated with EU exports are deducted [env_landfp_exp].
The land uses associated with imports and exports are estimated through product-specific land use coefficients. The latter are derived from literature and are multiplied with trade data derived from international trade in goods statistics (ITGS).
In all datasets, three land types are covered (cropland, grassland and forest land). The number of dimensions and respective coverage can differ between datasets (see 3.2).
30 June 2025
The land use footprint concept refers to the amount of land use, direct and indirect, needed to fulfil the consumption of a country (or region), or in other words, the land use embedded in the products that are consumed in a country in one year. The land use footprint of a country takes into account the land use domestically required and the land use internationally required to fulfil a country’s consumption.
The resulting cropland, grassland and forest land footprints are calculated by adding domestic production [env_landfp_dom] with imports [env_landfp_imp] and deducting exports [env_landfp_exp].
Three types of land use are considered: cropland, grassland and forest land.
Cropland concerns the harvested area necessary to grow annual and permanent crops (fallow land is excluded from this definition), as defined in Eurostat’s Annual Crop Statistics Handbook (2023) and in line with the definition of “Area harvested” applied in FAOSTAT.
The EU’s domestic cropland use is calculated by considering the harvested area (apro_cpsh1). Cropland embodied in imported primary crops is calculated based on the imported quantity of each crop (after subtracting the quantity re-exported as such or after transformation) and its yield in the country of production. Cropland embodied in exported primary crops is calculated considering the amount of each crop exported outside the EU (after subtracting the quantity originating from imports) and the average EU yield.
In this dataset, grassland refers to the hypothetical area needed for grazing if a country's grazing land were used at maximum intensity, based on the current productivity of natural grazing land (i.e. without use of fertilisers). This assumes that livestock can utilise up to 75% of the aboveground Net Primary Productivity (NPP), leaving the remaining 25% for the ecosystem.
The domestic grassland is modelled starting from the EU production of milk (apro_mk_farm), bovine meat and sheep meat (apro_mt_pann).
Traded quantities of plant-based products, livestock products and fish products are modelled in order to derive the embodied grassland and cropland areas.
Forest land – in this data set – refers to a hypothetical use of land, equivalent to the consumption of timber and timber-based products (‘net annual increment approach’) under the assumption of non-depleting stocks. This approach uses the net annual increment (NAI) of forests (i.e. yearly growth per unit of area) to estimate the area needed to grow the volume of timber consumed per year. The value is multiplied by a scaling factor of 0.9 to calculate the related “forest land yield” under the assumption of maximum intensity levels with non-depleting stock (i.e. assuming that annual harvests correspond to 90% of annual growth). NAI values taken from this model refer to all forest types, including both production forests and forest plantations. As the timber consumed is calculated in m3 and the NAI per hectare in [m3]/[ha*y] the result of the ratio between the two is measured in [ha*y]. This can also be interpreted as the forest area equivalent needed to grow within one year the volume of timber consumed over one year.
EU domestic forest land is calculated considering volumes of roundwood removals under bark, taken from Eurostat data set for_remov at Member State level. Then a country-specific coefficient is applied to convert them into an over bark equivalent volume. These volumes are divided by the NAI per hectare in each Member State to derive the forest land equivalent required for domestic timber production. Finally, the total EU27 forest land is calculated by adding up Member State data.
Forest land embedded in trade, is derived from the traded amounts of primary and processed timber-based products. These are converted into equivalent volumes of primary raw wood, by means of technical coefficients, and then re-allocated to the country where the wood was extracted, by using data on trade of roundwood and on extraction of wood in each country. The equivalent volumes of primary raw wood are then converted from under bark to over bark using technical coefficients.
Product group [PRODGRP] includes the following classes:
Primary livestock contains all products derived from livestock activities that did not undergo further processing (e.g. eggs, live bovine, live horses).
Processed livestock refers to products derived from livestock activities undergoing processing (e.g. dairy products, leather, wool) and (in one case) products derived from combining livestock products and plant-based products.
Fish products are all products derived from fish farming activities (e.g. trout fillets).
Primary crops refer to crops in their unprocessed state (e.g. wheat, maize),
Plant-based products are obtained from primary crops after some processing stages (e.g. flour, cotton yarn, wine).
Primary timber includes all products derived from timber that did not undergo further processing (e.g. wood in the rough),
Processed timber covers all products derived from timber that underwent further processing (e.g. wood panels, paper).
The project report provides more details on concepts, definitions, estimation methodology, and data sources.
The EU economy.
Not applicable, because the data are modelling estimates.
The four datasets present data for the aggregated EU economy. The dataset on domestic land use [env_landfp_dom] also has data at Member State level.
The data refer to the calendar year.
The data is modelled and the underlying assumptions and modelling techniques are transparent (see the project report for a more detailed description of the model).
The unit presented for the three land use types is hectare (ha).
Cropland is measured as the area occupied in the reference year.
Grassland is expressed in terms of the area hypothetically required if grazing land in a country were used at maximum intensity given its current natural grazing land productivity.
Forest land considers the area and time occupied for the production of timber and timber-based products consumed in the reference year. This area is calculated taking into account the time needed to grow the volume of timber consumed each year under the assumption of tree growth at maximum intensity levels with non-depleting stocks. As the timber consumed is calculated in m3 and the Net Annual Increment (NAI) per hectare in [m3]/[ha*y], the result of the ratio between the two is measured in [ha*y] (see 3.4 above). However, for presentation purposes, the unit displayed for the land type forest land is also hectare.
The project report provides a detailed overview of data compilation undertaken to estimate data.
The project report provides a detailed overview of data sources employed by the estimation model.
Data are disseminated annually.
Eurostat intends to disseminate the results 29 months after the most recent reference year ended.
Geographical coverage is limited to EU and Extra-EU (i.e. all non-EU countries). For domestic land use, data exists also at Member State level.
The comparability over time is good because the same method and data sources are applied to all reference years and the figures are re-estimated for the complete time-series each year.
