Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG

The European Union (EU) as a party to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) reports annually its air pollution inventory for the year t-2 and within the area covered by its Member States. Under the Convention, parties are obliged to report emissions data for numerous air pollutants.

This dataset includes data on air pollutants: sulphur oxides (SOx), ammonia (NH₃), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), particulate matters (PM10, PM2.5), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg), Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr) Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni), Selenium (Se) and Zinc (Zn), as reported to the European Environment Agency (EEA). The EU inventory is fully consistent with national air pollution inventories compiled by the EU Member States.

Note that Eurostat is not the producer of these data, only re-publishes them. The producer of the data is the European Environment Agency. 

Note that in the European Union emission inventory report 1990-2019 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, EU-28 totals do not include data from the United Kingdom. Therefore, Eurostat labels the same totals as EU-27. 

The dataset has five dimensions:

1) Air pollutant (AIRPOL): SOx, NOx, NH3, NMVOC, PM10, PM2.5, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Se, Zn, Pb

2) Geopolitical entity (GEO): EU Member States, EFTA Countries, Candidate Countries

3) Source sector for air emissions (SRC_NFR): Sectors are classified according to the Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR 14) under the LRTAP Convention. 

4) Period of time (TIME): Data are annual

5) Unit (UNIT): The air pollutants are measured in tonnes

See point 3.2.

see points 3.1 and 3.2

for more information see the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution

See points 3.1 and 3.2

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The reference area is the geographical territory of the reporting countries.

Complete time series are available from 1990 to latest reported inventory year (t-2). 

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Tonnes

Calendar year

The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution was the first international legally binding instrument to deal with problems of air pollution on a broad regional basis. It was signed in 1979 and entered into force in 1983. It has since been extended by eight specific protocols.

Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on National Emission Ceilings for certain pollutants (NEC Directive) sets upper limits for each Member State for the certain pollutants responsible for acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone pollution.

Within the EU inventory system, the European Environment Agency and its European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation are responsible for the annual compilation of the EU inventory.

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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.

See point 7.1

Data are not bound by an advance release calendar.

The EEA publishes the validated air pollution inventory data in August. Eurostat re-publishes the data shortly after.

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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 annually.

There are no news releases online.

Eurostat's Statistics Explained article: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Air_pollution_statistics

Air pollutant inventories (source: EEA) (env_air_emis):

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/data/database

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Data are produced and published by the European Environt Agency (EEA).

National emissions reported to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) (published by EEA)

See 10.6.

Quality of the data is ensured by the European Environment Agency (EEA)

See point 11.1.

Users include policy makers in environmental administrations, environmental organisations, students and interested citizens.

There are no studies of user satisfaction.

Data are complete.

See 10.6.

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EEA publishes data 18 months after the reference year.

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Comparability across countries is considered good.

Comparability over time is considered good.

Data are coherent with international guidelines.

Internal coherence is high, ensurred by harmonised methodologies used by parties.

See 10.6.

The original air pollution inventory data are revised every year for the entire time series.

See 17.1.

• National emissions reported to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention)
• Air pollutant emissions data viewer (LRTAP Convention)

Annual

Data are collected and published by EEA.

Data are validated by EEA.

The detailed data by NFR source sectors is downloaded from the EEA website. Data are published in Eurostat's online database (env_air_emis): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/data/database

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None