1.1. Contact organisation
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E2: 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
e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu
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
23 January 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
23 January 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
23 January 2026
The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation, which is embedded in the European Commission’s 2024-2029 priorities under 'Sustaining our quality of life: Food security, water and nature'.
Among other things, SDG 6 calls for ensuring universal access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, and ending open defecation. It also aims at improving water quality and water-use efficiency and encouraging sustainable abstractions and supply of freshwater. DG 15 seeks to protect, restore and promote the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial, inland water and mountain ecosystems.
The indicator can be considered as part of the global SDG indicator 6.3.2 "Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality".
Protection of water resources, water ecosystems and of drinking and bathing water is at the cornerstone of EU environmental policy. EU water policy provides a framework to comprehensively address water protection and for achieving good status for inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. The Water Framework Directive is the main European legislation aiming to prevent water pollution. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 supports the implementation of the Water Framework Directive’s objective by requiring Member States to restore freshwater ecosystems.
The 8th Environment Action Programme sets the environmental policy agenda for the years from 2021 to 2030 and explicitly mentions water-related issues in two of its six priority objectives. These two objectives are: (1) pursuing a zero-pollution ambition for a toxic free-environment, including for air, water and soil and protecting the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts; and (2) protecting, preserving and restoring biodiversity and enhancing natural capital, notably air, water, soil, and forest, freshwater, wetland and marine ecosystems.
4.1. Data description
This indicator measures the concentration of phosphate (PO4) per litre in the dissolved phase from water samples from river stations and aggregated to annual average values. At high concentrations phosphate can cause water quality problems, such as eutrophication, by triggering the growth of aquatic plants including algae. The indicator can be used to illustrate geographical variations in current nutrient concentrations and temporal trends.
For time series analyses, only complete series after inter/extrapolation are presented. As measuring stations change over time, this leads to a recalculation of the whole indicator with each update. Complete series 2007 – 2023 are based on a total of 4312 monitoring sites in rivers (4131 within 20 EU Member States). These river sites are distributed over the following countries (number of sites in parentheses): Belgium (81), Bulgaria (68), Czechia (51), Denmark (37), Estonia (50), Ireland (173), Spain (1232), France (1395), Croatia (21), Italy (466), Cyprus (21), Latvia (20), Lithuania (54), Netherlands (51), Austria (63), Portugal (4), Romania (93), Slovakia (34), Finland (95), Sweden (122), Norway (54), Switzerland (93) and Serbia (34).
The aggregate for EU_V include data for the following 20 EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
4.2. Unit of measure
mg PO4 per litre.
4.3. Reference Period
Calendar year.
4.4. Accuracy - overall
The time series on phosphate in rivers is considered robust for long-term trends due to extensive quality control and consistent methodology using generalized additive models (GAM) for data gap-filling. Precision is impacted by variations in national data reporting and water body delineation (spatial data). The time series are based on data collection methods and aggregation techniques, which include using annual averages that may not capture extreme events, varying sampling frequencies, data set gaps filled by inter/extrapolation, and changes in monitoring sites requiring recalculation.
4.5. Source data
4.5.1. Source data - Organisation
EEA (Waterbase database)
4.5.2. Source data - Comment
Data source: EEA Waterbase database on Water Quality ICM.
Data provider: European Environment Agency (EEA)
5.1. Frequency of dissemination
5.1.1. Frequency of dissemination - Grade
Every year5.1.2. Frequency of dissemination - Comment
The indicator is updated annually.
5.2. Timeliness
5.2.1. Timeliness - Grade
T+2 years5.2.2. Timeliness - Comment
New data points are disseminated within two years after the reference year.
6.1. Reference area
6.1.1. Reference Area - Grade
< 75% EU MS or no EU aggregate6.1.2. Reference Area - Comment
Data are presented for all EU Member States except Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovenia.
6.2. Comparability - geographical
6.2.1. Comparability - geographical - Grade
< 75% EU MS6.2.2. Comparability - geographical - Comment
The data for the reporting countries are only comparable within the limits of the weighting of the different number of samples per country. See also overall accuracy under point 4.4.
6.3. Coverage - Time
6.3.1. Time Coverage - Grade
> 10 years6.3.2. Time Coverage - Comment
Presented time series (aggregate changing according to the context EU_V) starts in 2007.
6.4. Comparability - over time
6.4.1. Comparability - over time - Grade
> 4 data points6.4.2. Comparability - over time - Comment
Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.
7.1. Dissemination format - Publications
Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).
7.2. Dissemination format - online database
See table sdg_06_50
7.3. Dissemination format - other
Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: Eurostat overview.
Copyrights: Eurostat Copyright/Licence Policy is applicable.
