Archive:Chemicals production statistics

Data from September 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Work on European Union (EU) statistics concerning hazardous substances started in the mid-1990s when some environmental pressure indicators (EPIs) related to chemicals were developed. More recently, a set of indicators to monitor the effectiveness of the Regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) were developed. This article presents two indicators developed and compiled by Eurostat that cover the production of important industrial chemicals.

Main statistical findings

Total production of chemicals

Figure 1: Total production of industrial chemicals
(million tonnes)

Figure 1 shows the development of EU-27 and EU-15 chemical production in terms of the level (or quantity) of output. The production of chemicals is largely concentrated in western Europe: Germany is the largest producer in the EU, followed by France, Italy and the United Kingdom and these four Member States collectively generated two thirds of the EU-27's chemical production in 2009; adding Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland, the overall share was 88 %.

In the EU-15, between 1995 and 2007, the total production of chemicals increased by 65 million tonnes (26.2 %) to reach a total of 313 million tonnes. In 2008, production decreased by 27 million tonnes (-8.7 %) and in 2009 by a further 34 million tonnes (-11.8 %) to reach a level of 250 million tonnes. In 2010 the total production increased again to 293 million tonnes (+17.2 %).

A shorter time series is available for the EU-27 which shows that the total production of chemicals increased continuously between 2002 and 2007, rising overall by 9.6 % to reach a peak of 362 million tonnes. During the financial and economic crisis, the production fell by 24 million tonnes (-6.6 %) in 2008 and by another 46 million tonnes (-13.6 %) in 2009. In 2010 the production of industrial chemicals in EU-27 increased by 47 million tonnes (+16 %) to reach a level of 339 million tonnes.

Production of environmentally harmful chemicals

Figure 2: Production of environmentally harmful chemicals
(million tonnes)

Figure 2 presents the development of production of environmentally harmful chemicals. Aggregated production of these environmentally harmful chemicals in the EU-27 grew from 2002 to 2007 by 10.1 % overall to a peak of 194 million tonnes. Production fell by 31 million tonnes (-16.5 %) over the next two years to a level of 162 million tonnes, which was 8.1 % lower than in 2002.

EU-15 production of environmentally harmful chemicals increased from 1996 to 2005 by 15.9 % overall to record a peak in production of 168 million tonnes. However, by 2009 the EU-15’s output stood at 138 million tonnes and was 4.7 % lower than in 1996.

The share of environmentally harmful chemicals in total EU-27 chemical output was 53.3 % in 2002 and 55.7 % in 2009. The 12 Member States that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 produced 24.0 million tonnes of environmentally harmful chemicals, equivalent to 14.8 % of the EU-27 total.

Production of toxic chemicals

Figure 3: Production of toxic chemicals
(million tonnes)

Figure 3 presents the development of production quantities of toxic chemicals, broken down into five toxicity classes. The EU-27’s production of toxic chemicals (all five toxicity classes aggregated) increased by 6.8 % overall between 2002 and 2007 to reach a peak of 218 million tonnes. Production fell by 17 million tonnes in 2008 (-7.9 %) and by a further 21 million tonnes (-10.4 %) in 2009 to reach a level of 180 million tonnes.

The overall share of chemicals classified as toxic (all five classes) in total EU-27 chemicals production was 62 % in 2009 – which was the same ratio that had been recorded in 2002. EU-27 production of the most toxic carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) chemicals reached 38 million tonnes in 2004. The level of production in 2007 was just below this recent peak, at 37 million tonnes, but output fell substantially in 2008 to 32 million tonnes and remained at that level in 2009. The relative share of CMRs in total EU-27 chemical production fell from 10.8 % in 2004 to 9.4 % in 2008 before increasing to 11.0 % in 2009. A more detailed analysis shows that most CMRs were produced in lower volumes in 2009; however, a higher production of chlorine compounds, such as vinyl chloride, compensated for these reductions to produce a stable overall quantity of CMR production.

The 12 Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or 2007 produced 15.0 % (27 million tonnes) of the EU-27’s toxic chemicals in 2009, compared with an 11.0 % share of total production of all industrial chemicals. The development of toxic chemicals production followed a similar path to that recorded for the production of all chemicals. The time series from 2002 to 2009 provides little indication that EU-27 production of chemicals that are toxic to human health and/or harmful to eco-systems is being significantly decoupled from the overall production level for chemicals.

Data sources and availability

The indicators presented in this article are derived from annual statistics on the production of manufactured goods (Prodcom). EU-15 statistics on toxic chemicals cover the years from 1995 to 2008, while statistics on environmentally harmful substances start in 1996. EU-27 data are available for the years 2002 to 2009 for both of these indicators.

The information presented on the production of environmentally harmful chemicals and the production of toxic chemicals has been aggregated, in both cases, to five impact classes: these classes of environmental impacts and toxicity to human health follow official classifications in EU legislation and scientific expert judgement. It should be noted that the indicators do not describe the actual risks associated with the use of chemicals, but instead their level of production in quantity terms. Indeed, production and consumption are not synonymous with exposure, as some chemicals are handled in closed systems, or as intermediate goods in controlled supply chains.

The production of environmentally harmful chemicals is divided into five classes based on their environmental impact. The impacts, beginning with the most harmful, are:

severe chronic environmental impacts;
significant chronic environmental impacts;
moderate chronic environmental impacts;
chronic environmental impacts;
significant acute environmental impacts.

The indicator monitors progress in shifting production from more environmentally harmful to less harmful chemicals; the indicator focuses on aquatic toxicity. It seeks to take into account the inherent eco-toxicity of chemical substances, their potential for bioaccumulation and their persistence in the environment. For this purpose, substance specific data on eco-toxicity, biodegradability and bioaccumulation potential have been used. The production of environmentally harmful chemicals is primarily based on the official environmental classification of substances; certain risk-phrases related to chronic human toxicity are also included.

The indicator on toxic chemicals is also published as a sustainable development indicator within the theme for public health. Aggregated production quantities of toxic chemicals may be broken down into five toxicity classes. The classes, beginning with the most dangerous, are:

carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) chemicals;
chronic toxic chemicals;
very toxic chemicals;
toxic chemicals;
chemicals classified as harmful.

This indicator monitors progress in shifting production from more toxic to less toxic chemicals and addresses an important objective of REACH: to reduce risks by substitution of hazardous by less hazardous substances.

Eurostat has recently, in collaboration with the Directorate-Generals of the European Commission responsible for industry and for the environment, published a baseline study providing a set of indicators to monitor the effectiveness of the REACH Regulation.

Context

The sixth environment action programme (EAP), which runs from 2002 to 2012, requires a complete overhaul of EU policies on chemicals management. It is intended that REACH shall ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment, including the promotion of alternative methods to assess the hazards of substances, the free circulation of substances on the internal market, and the enhancement of competitiveness and innovation in the EU’s chemical manufacturing sector. Through increasing knowledge about the hazardous properties of chemicals, REACH is expected to enhance conditions for their safe use in supply chains and contribute towards the substitution of dangerous substances by less dangerous ones, such that there are fewer risks to human health and the environment.

For this purpose, statistical indicators that provide information on the production of toxic chemicals and chemicals that are harmful to the environment may be used to measure progress towards a number of objectives. These include the headline objective for public health established under the EU’s sustainable development strategy, alongside the aim of ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment – an objective of the EU’s sixth environment action programme (EAP).

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Sustainable development indicators, see:

Indicators

Public health

Sub-theme: DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

9. Index of production of toxic chemicals, by toxicity class (QP)

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Chemical management statistics: tables and figures