Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat)

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact: ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu

The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 12 on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns and SDG 9 on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation, which are embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under the 'European Green Deal', 'An economy that works for people', and 'A Europe fit for the digital age'.

SDG 12 calls for a comprehensive set of actions from businesses, policy-makers, researchers and consumers to adapt to sustainable practices. It envisions sustainable production and consumption based on advanced technological capacity, resource efficiency and reduced global waste.

SDG 9 calls for building resilient and sustainable infrastructure and promotes inclusive and sustainable industrialisation. It also recognises the importance of research and innovation for finding lasting solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges.

The environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) is defined as that part of a country’s economy that is engaged in producing goods and services that are used in environmental protection and resource management activities either domestically or abroad. Gross value added in EGSS represents the contribution of the environmental goods and services sector to GDP and is defined as the difference between the value of the sector’s output and intermediate consumption.

i. Chain linked volumes (2010) in EUR

ii. % of GDP

Calendar year

The indicator is produced according to the quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).

ESS (European environmental economic accounts)

Data source: European environmental economic accounts (ESS) (ENV_AC_EGSS2)

Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on data reported by the countries.

Every year

Indicator is updated every year. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.

T+2 years

New data points are disseminated within two years after the reference year.

> 75% EU MS and EU aggregate

Data are presented for all EU Member States except Hungary, plus Switzerland.

> 75% EU MS

Data are comparable between EU Member States respectively other presented countries.

5 to 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in 2000. However, most countries cover only the period of mandatory reporting which started in 2014.

> 4 data points

The length of comparable time series without methodological break is more than 4 data points.

Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

see table  sdg_12_61

Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

Copyrights: Eurostat Copyright/Licence Policy is applicable.