Environment statistics at regional level

Data extracted in March 2026

Planned article update: September 2027

This article forms part of the Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026, an annual flagship publication. It provides a detailed picture relating to a broad range of statistical topics across the regions of the EU, EFTA and candidate countries. A short reading guide is provided in the introductory chapter, including an explanation of how to interpret the maps.

Highlights

Between 1990 and 2024, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU fell by just over a third. Across EU regions, the largest decreases were recorded in Dytiki Makedonia (Greece; down 79.8%), Sostinės regionas (Lithuania; down 74.6%) and Região Autónoma da Madeira (Portugal; down 73.1%).

In 2024, approximately 25% of assessed regions in the EU showed evidence of lasting drought impacts, with persistent drought-related reductions in vegetation productivity.

In 2023, around three quarters of EU regions had already met the 2030 target to cut premature deaths from fine particulate matter by 55% compared with 2005.

Climate change and environmental degradation are among the most pressing global threats, affecting ecosystems, human health and the economy. These challenges are interconnected: while climate change harms biodiversity and alters ecosystems, intact and healthy ecosystems can help mitigate its effects (for example through carbon storage) and support adaptation (by regulating water, reducing floods and heat, preventing desertification and improving air quality).

The United Nations (UN’s) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a long-term strategy that seeks to achieve a range of social, economic, environmental and institutional objectives. The objectives are divided into a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 1 of its core principles being to ‘leave no one behind’.

Within the EU, specific indicators are used to measure progress towards achieving the SDGs in a European context. For example, SDG 13, ‘take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’ underscores the risks of global warming and extreme weather. Indeed, 2024 was the hottest year on record globally, leading to record temperatures, widespread displacement of people, as well as economic and social disruption. Despite ongoing international efforts and commitments under the Paris Agreement, it is becoming increasingly challenging to limit long-term warming to 1.5°C. The infographic above highlights that EU greenhouse gas emissions fell by 34.9% between 1990 and 2024, with much larger reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in regions such as Dytiki Makedonia (Greece), Sostinės regionas (Lithuania) and Região Autónoma da Madeira (Portugal).

Climate change mitigation

SDG 13 is designed to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters, integrating climate change measures into national policies, while improving education and raising awareness and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

EU countries are legally committed to fighting climate change by shifting to a climate-neutral economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality – hereafter referred to as the European Climate Law – seeks to create a cleaner and healthier EU by transforming the way enterprises and people behave, both in terms of production and consumption patterns. This legal act provides the EU’s contribution to the Paris Agreement, which set an ambitious global goal ‘to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’. Alongside a package of policy initiatives, the European Climate Law makes the European Green Deal’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050 legally binding. It also sets an intermediate target: to decrease EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared with 1990 levels). Such decreases will require profound and transformative changes, for example, to energy and transport systems, industrial processes and agriculture, as well as increased carbon removal by ecosystems.

Map 1 shows progress towards these targets, with greenhouse gas emissions across the EU having fallen by 34.9% between 1990 and 2024. Note: data exclude international shipping and aviation – although both form part of the overall targets – as these items are excluded from the regional datasets presented in this chapter.

Greenhouse gas emissions fell in approximately 85% of EU regions between 1990 and 2024

Between 1990 and 2024, greenhouse gas emissions fell in 204 of the 241 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available, while 37 regions experienced an increase. All regions in Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden recorded a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions during the period under consideration; this was the case in Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Malta too.

Emissions generally declined strongly in eastern and Baltic EU countries.
Most regions in western and Nordic EU countries experienced modest decreases in greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2024.
Developments in southern EU countries were more varied, with several regions – including Cyprus – recording sharp increases, while others registered sizeable decreases in emissions; this mixed pattern was observed across all multi-regional countries.

Between 1990 and 2024, greenhouse gas emissions fell by more than 55% in 27 regions. Map 1 highlights these regions that have already exceeded the EU’s 2030 emissions reduction target:

7 regions across Germany (including the capital region)
4 regions in Romania (including the capital region)
3 regions in Italy
2 regions in Denmark (including the capital region)
2 regions in Hungary
the capital regions of Bulgaria and Lithuania
single regions in Czechia, Greece, Spain, Poland and Portugal
the neighbouring Baltic countries of Estonia and Latvia.

While greenhouse gas emissions across the EU declined by more than a third (34.9%) between 1990 and 2024, several regions recorded considerably larger decreases. Dytiki Makedonia in Greece (down 79.8%) registered the largest decline, partly reflecting the phasing-out of lignite-based electricity generation. The next biggest decreases were in Sostinės regionas, the capital region of Lithuania (down 74.6%), and Região Autónoma da Madeira in Portugal (down 73.1%). In contrast to the general pattern of emissions declining across most eastern and Baltic EU countries, the Croatian capital region and 3 Polish regions recorded increases.

Between 1990 and 2024, greenhouse gas emissions rose in most regions across Ireland and Spain, as well as in Cyprus. Some of the highest increases occurred in regions that are popular with tourists, such as Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast and Portugal’s Algarve. At the upper end of the distribution, the largest increases were recorded in the autonomous Spanish cities and the French outermost regions. Elsewhere:

emissions almost doubled in Región de Murcia (southern Spain; up 97.9%) and also rose at a rapid pace in La Rioja (northern Spain; up 75.7%)
the next largest increase was observed in Cyprus (where emissions rose 67.1%)
the Croatian capital region, Grad Zagreb, was the only other region in the EU to report its emissions growing by more than half (up 58.4%).

Map 1: Greenhouse gas emissions
Source: EDGAR_2025_GHGs_NUTS2. GHG emissions at subnational level, European Commission (JRC), see https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset_ghg2024_nuts2

Figure 1 shows the NUTS level 2 regions with the highest and lowest changes in greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2024. It highlights a wide variation of developments among the regions of Spain, Greece, France and Portugal, in contrast to relatively narrow variations observed across the regions of Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Ireland, Bulgaria and Finland.

In Spain, greenhouse gas emissions in Ciudad de Ceuta more than quadrupled compared with 1990 levels. By contrast, emissions in the north-western region of Principado de Asturias fell sharply, registering a fall of 63.2% over the same period. In 2024, the index for Ciudad de Ceuta was 11.1 times as high as the index for Principado de Asturias (representing the largest regional variation across EU countries).
In Greece, the central mainland region of Sterea Elláda experienced the fastest growth in greenhouse gas emissions, rising by 43.8% between 1990 and 2024. This contrasts sharply with developments in the northern region of Dytiki Makedonia, where emissions fell by 79.8% (representing the largest decrease between 1990 and 2024 across EU regions).
In France, greenhouse gas emissions in Mayotte were approximately 3.5 times as high in 2024 as in 1990, while the northern region of Haute-Normandie witnessed a near-halving of its emissions over the same period, down 49.5%.
In Portugal, the southern region of Algarve experienced a 43.1% increase in greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2024, whereas Região Autónoma da Madeira registered a considerable decrease (down 73.1%) during the same period.

Between 1990 and 2024, greenhouse gas emissions across the EU generally followed a moderate downward path, reflecting steady progress in reducing carbon intensity. Most years saw annual decreases in emissions, although there were intermittent periods with increases (often linked to phases of rapid economic growth), such as in 1995–96, 2000–01, 2003–04 and 2015–16. The most striking falls in EU emissions occurred in 2020 and 2023, with decreases of 7.8% and 7.5%, respectively. The fall in 2020 was largely the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as an abrupt slowdown in economic activity, linked to widespread lockdowns, sharply curtailed transport, industrial and energy demand. By contrast, the decline in 2023 was linked more to decreases in consumer demand in the face of high prices, structural changes as fossil fuels were replaced by renewable energy (in the face of continued volatility in global energy markets, exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine), and improvements in energy efficiency.

The steady progress over time observed across the EU as a whole masks substantial differences in regional developments. Figure 2 provides a more detailed picture of the development of greenhouse gas emissions in the NUTS level 2 regions with the highest/lowest changes between 1990 and 2024; note that a threshold of at least 3 000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalents was used when selecting the regions.

During the period under consideration, Región de Murcia in southern Spain recorded the largest increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The region experienced a particularly sharp rise in emissions between 2005 and 2006, which may be attributed, at least in part, to an expansion of its electricity generation facilities. Emissions fluctuated thereafter but generally followed a downward trend, falling overall by 19.4% between 2006 and 2024.
Having peaked in 2008 (77.0% higher than in 1990), greenhouse gas emissions in Cyprus fell for 5 consecutive years before resuming a generally upward trend. By 2024, emissions were 67.1% above their 1990 level and just 5.5% below the peak of 2008. The relatively high and growing level of emissions in Cyprus may be linked to continued reliance on fossil fuels, high emissions linked to energy use, transport, waste and household consumption, as well as economic growth outpacing decreases in carbon intensity.
By 2012, greenhouse gas emissions in the northern Greek region of Dytiki Makedonia were 12.5% higher than their 1990 level. However, a period of rapid change, driven by economic restructuring and the increasing deployment of clean energy sources, led to an overall decline of 82.0% in emissions between 2012 and 2024. The most pronounced annual decreases occurred in 2019 and 2020, when emissions fell by 26.2% and 40.6%, respectively.
The development of greenhouse gas emissions in the Lithuanian capital region of Sostinės regionas followed a different path (from that observed in Dytiki Makedonia). Emissions fell sharply in the early 1990s, likely linked to post-Soviet economic restructuring. Thereafter, with cleaner energy and efficiency improvements, emissions continued to decline, albeit at a slower pace. Over the most recent decade, emissions in Sostinės regionas generally fell, although annual increases were recorded in 2020 and 2021, as well as a modest increase in 2024 (up 0.3%).

Climate change impacts

Drought impact

SDG 15 ‘life on land’ aims to protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems; sustainably manage forests; combat desertification; halt and reverse land degradation; and halt biodiversity loss. Its objectives are embedded within the European Commission’s priorities for 2024 to 2029 under the heading of ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’.

Droughts and water scarcity are becoming increasingly frequent and severe across the EU (ESOTC, 2025). These events reduce water availability, lower agricultural output, accelerate soil erosion and release carbon stored in soils. They also threaten biodiversity, hinder habitat restoration, disrupt species migration and promote the spread of invasive alien species, as highlighted in the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulation ((EU) 2024/1991), a key element of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030.

Drought undermines nature’s ability to provide environmental, social and economic benefits. It reduces carbon sequestration, jeopardises climate mitigation, and affects adaptation, biodiversity restoration and soil management. Droughts also impede progress towards common agricultural policy (CAP) objectives and the goals of the European green deal, as well as biodiversity and soil initiatives. As such, the EU seeks to reduce drought impacts and strengthen resilience through measures addressing water scarcity, sustainable water management and climate adaptation.

Water scarcity is a major climate change risk that arises when available water resources are insufficient to meet the needs of society, economic sectors and ecosystems. It can compromise water availability for households, agriculture, industry, energy generation and the environment. Meteorological droughts – defined as prolonged periods of below-average precipitation relative to long-term climatic conditions – can provide an early indication of emerging water scarcity. The indicator presented below focuses on meteorological drought impacts, capturing drought-related declines in vegetation productivity. This differs from hydrological droughts, which affect surface and groundwater resources, such as rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, and typically develop after more prolonged precipitation deficits.

Drought exposure refers to the degree to which an area experiences drought conditions, such as precipitation deficits or soil moisture shortages. Drought impact, by contrast, describes the actual consequences of those conditions on environmental, social or economic systems. In the context of agricultural drought, drought exposure reflects the occurrence of soil moisture deficits, whereas drought impact is observed through reductions in vegetation productivity resulting from those deficits. As a result, areas with similar levels of drought exposure may experience different impacts depending on factors such as vegetation type, land management practices, irrigation and ecosystem resilience.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) monitors drought exposure as a key climate indicator, defined as the area experiencing significant soil moisture deficits relative to the 2000 to 2020 baseline. The drought impact indicator presented in this section tracks reductions in vegetation productivity caused by soil moisture deficits during the growing season. Based on remote-sensing data, it identifies areas where soil moisture falls below the long-term average for the 2000 to 2020 reference period. Drought impact is quantified as the share of a region’s area where vegetation productivity does not recover to its baseline (2000 to 2020) conditions because of drought. As a result, the indicator captures areas experiencing above-average drought impacts relative to the long-term record, rather than representing the total area exposed to or affected by drought (EEA, 2025).

Projections indicate that drought conditions in Europe will become more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense under climate change. In 2024, drought exposure covered 601 000 km2 (14% of the EU), below the exceptional peak observed in 2022, but slightly above 2023.

The overall extent of intense drought impacts in the EU has been gradually increasing. Between 2000 and 2024, as the area of drought impact followed an upward development due to low precipitation, high evaporation and intermittent heatwaves. Notably high levels were recorded in 2003, 2012, 2018 and particularly 2022, when the EU experienced its hottest summer to date and its second warmest year on record; approximately 558 000 km² of land were impacted by drought with vegetation productivity well below the baseline conditions. Pressure on EU ecosystems eased in 2023 and 2024, with broadly similar areas affected. In 2024, 156 700 km², or 3.7% of the EU’s total area, was impacted by drought. The largest areas affected were cropland (55.9% of the impacted area), woodland and forest (21.4%) and grassland (9.1%). Approximately 30% of the EU regions assessed showed evidence of lasting drought impacts in 2024, indicating that vegetation productivity in parts of their territory had not recovered to baseline (2000 to 2020) conditions following drought-related reductions.

Drought impact was particularly prevalent across south-eastern regions of the EU in 2024

Map 2 shows the share of each region’s area exposed to a severe soil moisture deficit in 2024, where – due to drought – vegetation productivity did not recover to baseline (2000 to 2020) conditions. There were 870 regions across the EU where the area impacted by drought remained lower than or equal to the average drought impact recorded for the years 2000 to 2020 (as shown by the lightest shade in the map). This was the case for a band of regions stretching from Portugal and Ireland in the west, through much of Spain, France and the Benelux countries into Germany, Austria and several eastern EU countries. The pattern was more mixed in several of the Nordic and Baltic countries, where some regions experienced higher-than-average drought impacts. Along the easternmost and southernmost edges of the EU, a relatively large number of regions experienced a higher-than-average share of land affected by drought.

In 2024, Malta was the only EU country where drought impact on ecosystems accounted for more than half (57.5%) of its total area. There were 5 other countries in the EU that recorded double-digit shares: Bulgaria (20.1%), Romania (17.5%), Cyprus (13.0%), Greece (11.4%) and Italy (10.7%).

In 2024, the distribution of drought impacts was highly skewed: one quarter (290 out of the 1 160) of the NUTS level 3 regions across the EU for which data are available experienced lasting drought impacts, while three quarters had no lasting impact. These 290 affected regions that were impacted by drought, included:

every region of Bulgaria, Malta and Romania
all but 3 regions of Greece (the exceptions being Chios, Larisa and Kerkyra)
more than half the regions of Poland
and Cyprus.

Among the 290 regions that experienced some impact from drought during 2024, the regions with the largest areas of land affected – in absolute terms – were:

Lovech, in northern Bulgaria (998 km²)
Lleida, in north-eastern Spain (989 km²)
Caraş-Severin, in western Romania (977 km²).

The regions with the highest shares of land impacted by drought were all situated on the Italian island of Sicilia, namely:

Enna (95.2%)
Caltanissetta (89.0%)
Siracusa (87.3%).

More generally, there were 19 regions where more than half of the total area was impacted by drought in 2024. This group included:

Voreios Tomeas Athinon in Greece
Eivissa y Formentera, Mallorca, Murcia and Alicante/Alacant in Spain
8 regions on Sicilia, 1 on Sardegna and the south-eastern region of Matera in Italy
both regions in Malta
Galaţi and Botoşani in Romania.

Map 2: Drought impact on ecosystems
Source: European Environment Agency (EEA) and Eurostat (sdg_15_42)

Air quality

SDG 11 ‘sustainable cities and communities’ aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. A key aspect of this goal is to reduce the environmental impact of urban areas, in particular through improving air quality and enhancing the management of municipal and other forms of waste.

Air quality can deteriorate considerably due to human activities such as industrial processes, the burning of solid fuels, transport, agriculture and the generation or treatment of waste. In addition, natural sources of air pollution include volcanic eruptions, desert dust and sea salt.

Air pollution remains a major cause of premature death and disease across the EU, with fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) identified as having the most serious human health impacts. Some of the most common causes of both illness and premature death attributed to air pollution include heart disease, stroke, lung disease, lung cancer and asthma; these illnesses also have an associated economic cost through lost working days and healthcare expenditure.

To address this, the EU’s zero pollution action plan has set a target to reduce premature deaths caused by fine particulate matter by at least 55% by 2030 (relative to 2005 levels). More broadly, the plan aims to bring air, water and soil pollution down to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and natural ecosystems by 2050.

More about the data: air quality guidelines, commitments and targets

Premature deaths are deaths that occur before a person reaches an expected age. This expected age is typically the life expectancy of a country, stratified by sex and age. In this context, premature deaths are considered preventable if their cause can be eliminated.

Fine particulate matter refers to particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less (otherwise referred to as PM_2.5). In September 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new global air quality guidelines, emphasising the need to safeguard public health: the long-term guideline level was set as an annual average of 5 µg/m³ for PM_2.5. These guidelines reflect growing scientific evidence that even low concentrations of air pollution may pose significant risks to human health.

As part of its goal to eliminate pollution by 2050, the European Commission has outlined key targets and initiatives. Among these, an intermediate goal to reduce premature deaths resulting from exposure to air pollution by at least 55% between 2005 and 2030.

In December 2024, a revised Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (Directive (EU) 2024/2881) came into force. Under this directive, the European Commission will review the latest scientific evidence on air pollution and its health impacts by the end of 2030 and every 5 years thereafter – or more often if new findings warrant it – to ensure the EU’s air quality standards continue to be appropriate. The directive sets a new annual limit value for the EU of 10 µg/m³ for PM_2.5, to be met by 1 January 2030.

The revised directive also aims to strengthen air quality plans and roadmaps for territorial units where pollution exceeds EU standards. It updates air quality limits for 12 pollutants, including fine particulate matter. In addition, it also provides an opportunity for individuals to seek compensation if their health is harmed due to violations of EU air quality rules.

The penultimate section of this chapter presents statistics on the health impacts of air pollution associated with exposure to fine particulate matter. The EEA estimates that fine particulate matter resulted in 182 400 premature deaths across the EU in 2023 (down 23.5% compared with 2022). Note that all the information in this section on premature deaths attributable to fine particulate matter concerns a cohort of people aged 30 years or more – sometimes referred to as the ‘affected population’ – as this is the age range generally considered in epidemiological studies.

In 2023, there were 3 478 premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter in the northern Italian region of Milano

The highest numbers of premature deaths among people aged 30 years or more were primarily estimated to have occurred in southern and eastern EU countries, particularly in predominantly urban regions. The northern Italian region of Milano had the highest estimated number (3 478 premature deaths in 2023), followed by the Spanish region of Barcelona (2 883 deaths) and the Italian capital region of Roma (2 743 deaths). There were 3 additional regions in Italy and Spain that were also estimated to have more than 2 000 premature deaths: the Italian regions of Torino and Napoli, and the Spanish capital region of Madrid.

At the other end of the distribution, very low levels were recorded across several parts of northern Europe. In 2023, 17 EU regions had no premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter among the affected population. The vast majority of these (14 regions) were located in Sweden, primarily in the northern part of the country. The remaining 3 regions were composed of the predominantly rural regions of Arr. Bastogne in southern Belgium, Kesk-Eesti in central Estonia and Lungau in Austria. Finland likewise had a very low estimated value, based on its national data.

While the absolute number of premature deaths attributed to exposure to fine particulate matter was generally high in some of the most populous regions of the EU, the most significant impacts of air pollution in terms of premature deaths per 100 000 inhabitants were generally observed in industrialised and urbanised regions, particularly across eastern EU countries. These regions are typically characterised by high concentrations of industrial activity in traditional sectors such as coal mining, steel production, cement manufacture and chemical industries. In addition, some also have a relatively high share of households burning coal or wood for heating, and/or suffer from traffic congestion – other factors that may exacerbate air pollution.

Between 2005 and 2023, the number of premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter in the EU fell by 56.9%

Between 2005 and 2023, the number of premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter among people aged 30 years or more fell from 423 600 to 182 400 within the EU, a decrease of 56.9%.

The regional distribution of changes in premature deaths was skewed: in 754 out of 1 055 regions for which data are available (71.5% of all regions), the number of premature deaths fell faster than the EU average between 2005 and 2023. Note that this relates to the relative change in the rate of premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter during the period under consideration; it does not reveal whether the initial or final rates were comparatively high or low (for example, relative to the total population). Rather, it reflects the direction and magnitude of change from the initial level.

In relation to the 2030 target of reducing the number of premature deaths in the EU among the affected population by at least 55%, 792 regions had already achieved this level of reduction by 2023 (however, it should be noted that the target applies to the EU as a whole rather than to individual regions). This group included:

every region of Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden
as well as Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Finland (for which only national data are available).

At the other end of the distribution, the north-western Greek region of Ioannina was the only region in the EU where the estimated number of premature deaths among people aged 30 years or more attributed to fine particulate matter was higher in 2023 than in 2005. This region lies in a mountain basin where atmospheric conditions – particularly in winter – can trap air pollutants and limit their dispersion.

More generally, there were clusters of regions in mainland Greece, northern Italy and central Poland with relatively small decreases in the estimated number of premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter among the affected population between 2005 and 2023. The use of solid fuel for domestic heating and an ageing population structure may be linked to increased exposure and vulnerability to air pollution in some of these. Furthermore, as with Ioannina, geographical conditions may also play a role. For example, some of the most persistent air pollution issues in Italy are concentrated in the densely populated plains of the Po valley, where topography hinders air circulation and traps pollutants from agriculture, industry and transport.

Map 3: Premature deaths – exposure to fine particulate matter
Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)

Figure 4 highlights the NUTS level 3 regions in each country with the highest and lowest rates of change in premature deaths among people aged 30 years or more attributed to fine particulate matter. It shows that there were often considerable regional differences in the speed at which the number of premature deaths decreased between 2005 and 2023, for example:

the Spanish island region of Mallorca experienced an overall decrease of 7.0% in premature deaths, while the western region of Salamanca saw a much larger decrease (98.8%)
the north-eastern Italian region of Treviso saw its number of premature deaths fall 8.2%, in contrast to an 80.5% decrease in Nuoro (a central region of Sardinia)
as noted above, the western region of Ioannina had an increase in its number of premature deaths (up 16.3%), which could be contrasted with a 55.3% decrease in the northern Greek region of Grevena, Kozani.

Regional rates of change in premature deaths attributed to fine particulate matter were relatively consistent across several EU countries between 2005 and 2023. In Lithuania, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden and Czechia, the inter-regional range was around 20 percentage points. In Denmark, for example, deaths fell by 67.0% in the capital region of Byen København (the smallest decrease among Danish regions), compared with an 88.3% fall in the northernmost region of Nordjylland (the largest decrease in Denmark).

Landscape features

Landscape features have historically been an integral component of agricultural land, closely associated with farming practices and providing a range of environmental and agronomic benefits. However, as farming has grown more intensive, many landscape features have disappeared from agricultural areas or have been left neglected and unmanaged. Landscape features contribute to biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services, including habitat support, pollination, soil erosion control, water quality protection and climate change mitigation. In addition to environmental benefits, landscape features can also enhance field-level productivity by improving soil fertility, supporting natural pest regulation and increasing water availability.

Across much of the EU, traditional farming systems integrate landscape features, which serve functional roles such as delineating field boundaries, providing shelter for livestock and maintaining ecological connectivity. These landscape features also possess cultural and historical significance, as illustrated by the ‘bocage’ (hedgerow-dominated) landscapes of north-west France or the dry-stone walls that segment agricultural land in countries such as Ireland and Malta.

Within Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Annex I established Indicator I.21 – Enhancing provision of ecosystem services: share of agricultural land covered with landscape features. This indicator is recognised across several EU policy frameworks, including the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, and is referenced in legislation such as the Nature Restoration Regulation ((EU) 2024/1991).

Previously, no EU-wide database on landscape features existed. To address this gap, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), at the request of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, developed a harmonised monitoring system. Building on the existing land use and cover area frame survey (LUCAS), a dedicated landscape features module was introduced to collect detailed information in support of environmental and agricultural monitoring. This has provided consistent data on the distribution and types of landscape features across EU countries and NUTS level 2 regions. It also establishes a long-term, repeatable framework, enabling policymakers to track changes over time and assess the impact of agricultural and environmental policies.

The LUCAS landscape features module only considers such features in an agricultural context. These features are defined as small fragments of non-productive and typically, but not only, semi-natural vegetation present in, or adjacent to, agricultural land, providing ecosystem services and support for biodiversity. To ensure consistency, the module defines minimum and maximum sizes for landscape features:

linear features have a width greater than 1 metre and smaller than 20 metres
patchy features have an area between 1 square metre and 5 000 square metres (or 0.5 hectares).

The different landscape features are subsequently grouped into 4 main categories:

grassy features – comprising field margins, buffer strips and grassed thalwegs (grassed waterways, natural or constructed channels, typically seeded with grass or low-growing vegetation, located along the deepest, most concave line of a valley or slope, used to manage surface run-off, reduce soil erosion and prevent the formation of rills and gullies)
stony features – covering stone walls, terraces, cairns and rocky outcrops
wet features – encompassing ditches, ponds, seepage areas and small wetlands
woody features – including hedges, wooded strips, isolated trees, trees in line and grouped trees.

Different landscape features – 4 main categories

Grassy features	Stony features
Wet features	Woody features

It is important to note that these landscape features should be located in or adjacent to agricultural land. More specifically, this includes all elements that are lying:

within an agricultural field (typically within arable land, grassland or permanent crops)
between agricultural fields
between an agricultural field and linear infrastructure (a farm track, road or railway)
between an agricultural field and detached buildings (such as individual farmyards, or agricultural buildings)
between an agricultural field and water bodies (for examples, rivers, lakes or reservoirs).

Within the LUCAS landscape features module, the principal indicator for analysis is the ratio between the area covered by landscape features and the area covered by agricultural land, expressed in percent. Estimates of the share of landscape features in agricultural land based on the LUCAS 2022 module results were provided by the JRC.

The LUCAS landscape features module

To obtain an unbiased estimation of the share of landscape features in agricultural lands, the LUCAS 2022 module was conducted on a subset of the points observed in the field during the LUCAS survey. The primary observation unit in the module is a 1 hectare quadrat (100 metres by 100 metres), with the LUCAS sample point at its centre. Within each quadrat, landscape features are assessed at 41 locations arranged in an offset grid.

Background imagery © Google; Imagery © Maxar Technologies

Example of the 41 point sampling grid used in the LUCAS landscape features module. The left panel shows the arrangement of the sampling locations, with the central point corresponding to the original LUCAS sample point. The right panel shows the same sampling grid overlaid on an aerial photo.

The methodology uses a two-step approach:

at first, an office-based photo-interpretation is conducted using very high resolution images to look for the presence and type of landscape features

subsequently, a field survey of the same observation units is used to confirm or revise the photo interpretation. Photos are taken of the central point and in the 4 cardinal directions at each point (these are freely available on the Eurostat website).

During the 2022 survey, 92 633 quadrats were surveyed (which encompasses almost 3.8 million data points), providing a comprehensive and accurate assessment of landscape features across the EU.

For more information: JRC Publications – Estimation of the share of Landscape Features in agricultural land based on the LUCAS 2022 survey

For more information: Eurostat Statistical Atlas – LUCAS 2022

Approximately 5.6% of the EU’s agricultural land was covered by landscape features in 2022

The abundance of landscape features is often considered as an important metric for analysing agricultural biodiversity. Based on the LUCAS survey data, the JRC estimates that landscape features covered 5.6% of the EU’s agricultural land in 2022, with the largest share attributed to woody features (3.2%), followed by grassy (1.9%), wet (0.4%) and stony (0.2%) features.

Map 4 provides information on the distribution of landscape features across NUTS level 2 regions. While there was a very mixed pattern across EU regions, landscape features broadly accounted for a high share of the agricultural land in a band of regions running from southern Bulgaria and Greece, through Croatia and Italy, into France, northern Spain and Ireland. By contrast, relatively low shares were recorded across many regions in the eastern EU countries, as well as in southern Germany and Austria.

There were 23 regions across the EU where the share of landscape features in agricultural land was equal to or above 10.0%. This group of regions was widely distributed among EU counties, including:

6 regions stretching along the whole of Italy
3 regions in northern Sweden
2 predominantly urban regions in Germany (where the overall area given over to agricultural land was small in absolute terms)
2 regions in northern Spain
2 regions in southern France
a single region from each of Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Austria and Portugal
Cyprus and Malta.

In 2022, the highest regional shares for landscape features in agricultural areas were recorded in the northern Italian region of Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste (33.3%; low reliability, likely over-estimated), Malta (30.0%), the northern Swedish region of Mellersta Norrland (23.0%) and Cyprus (21.1%). Within these regions, relatively low levels of large-scale, industrialised agriculture have helped preserve traditional land structures. As a result, landscape features – whether natural (like tree lines and streams) or man-made (like terraces and stone walls) – remain a prominent characteristic of agricultural areas. Their high shares likely reflect a mix of geographic, climatic and historical factors, for example:

in mountainous regions such as Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste, agriculture is constrained by steep slopes, altitude and fragmented terrain, leading to irregular-shaped fields interspersed with features like terraces, hedgerows, stone walls and patches of woodland (often essential for soil stabilisation and water management)

	North
West	Point	East
	South

Example of LUCAS point and photos in 4 cardinal directions – Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste (ITC2), Italy

in island regions like Malta and Cyprus, limited land availability has resulted in highly structured agricultural landscapes with farmers traditionally relying on terraces, stone walls as field boundaries and irrigation features to maximise productivity and prevent soil erosion in arid environments

	North
West	Point	East
	South

Example of LUCAS point and photos in 4 cardinal directions – Cyprus (CY00), Cyprus

in more northern and sparsely-populated regions such as Mellersta Norrland, agricultural land is often interspersed with forests, wetlands and natural grasslands, reflecting lower levels of agricultural intensity, with a mixture of cultivated and semi-natural elements.

	North
West	Point	East
	South

Example of LUCAS point and photos in 4 cardinal directions – Mellersta Norrland (SE32), Sweden

At the lower end of the range, there were 22 regions across the EU where the share of landscape features in the agricultural area was less than 3.5% in 2022. Several of these regions are characterised by a specialisation in arable farming, with uninterrupted expanses of land, reflecting a process of consolidation and low numbers of landscape features. Some examples include the plains of Picardie in northern France, the capital region of Sostinės regionas in Lithuania, Dél-Dunántúl in Hungary or Sud-Muntenia in Romania.

Map 4: Landscape features
Source: Estimation of the share of Landscape Features in agricultural land based on the LUCAS 2022 survey, European Commission (JRC)

Source data for figures and maps

Regional environmental statistics

Data sources

Joint Research Centre

Greenhouse gas emissions

The Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) is a global database of anthropogenic (man-made) emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution. EDGAR is developed, maintained and managed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.

Emissions are calculated for the following greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃).

It is important to note that EDGAR greenhouse gas emission estimates are based on the application of a globally consistent methodology, combining various international statistical data sources and default emission factors from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ((Crippa, M., Guizzardi, D., Pagani, F., Banja, M., Muntean, M. et al.: GHG emissions of all world countries – 2025 report, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, doi:10.2760/9816914, JRC143227); Janssens-Maenhout, G., Crippa, M., Guizzardi, D., Muntean, M., Schaaf, E., Dentener, F., Bergamaschi, P., Pagliari, V., Olivier, J., Peters, J., van Aardenne, J., Monni, S., Doering, U., Petrescu, R., Solazzo, E., and Oreggioni, G.: EDGAR v4.3.2 Global Atlas of the three major Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the period 1970-2012, Earth System Science Data, Vol. 11, 959-1002, doi:10.5194/essd-11-959-2019). By contrast, data from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are based on national reported inventories that may use country-specific information and different type of emission modelling. As a result, the coverage and figures reported by each source may differ (Banja, M., Crippa, M., Guizzardi, D., Muntean, M., Pagani, F., and Pisoni, E., A comparative analysis of EDGAR and UNFCCC GHG emissions inventories: insights on trends, methodology and data discrepancies, Earth System Science Data, Vol. 17, 6461-6486, doi:10.5194/essd-17-6461-2025).

More information on EDGAR can be found on the JRC’s website.

You can download data from EDGAR from the JRC’s website.

The data for greenhouse gas emissions at sub-national level (NUTS 2) are available from the JRC’s website.

European Environment Agency (EEA)

The European Environment Agency (EEA) provides data on a broad range of environmental topics. This chapter uses EEA data for the following indicators:

drought impact
air pollution.

Drought impact

Drought impact on ecosystems is an indicator computing annual areas of lower than average vegetation productivity as a response to drought pressures. It shows the area impacted by drought by monitoring negative anomalies in vegetation productivity in areas with a severe soil moisture deficit during the growing season. A severe deficit is more than 1 standard deviation from the long-term average observed through remote sensing data at 500×500 metres resolution of the Copernicus EMS European Drought Observatory (part of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre). The indicator covers only agricultural droughts with soil moisture deficits causing lower vegetation productivity due to insufficient precipitation, as opposed to hydrological droughts, which occur when low water supplies become apparent in streams, reservoirs and groundwater levels (usually after many months of meteorological drought).

More information on the European Drought Observatory can be found on the JRC’s website.

More information on drought impacts on ecosystems in Europe can be found on the EEA website.

Air pollution

Air quality is assessed by the concentration of various pollutants in ambient air. The EEA is the source for statistics presented on air pollution from particulate matter (PM). Based on the size of the particles, various categories of particulate matter can be defined: the statistics presented here concern fine particulate matter – PM_2.5 – in other words, particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres (μm) or less.

Premature deaths are deaths that occur before a person reaches an expected age. This expected age is typically the life expectancy of a country, stratified by sex and age. In this context, premature deaths are considered preventable if their cause can be eliminated.

The indicator presented on premature deaths attributed to exposure to fine particulate matter above an annual concentration above 5µg/m3 (the 2021 WHO air quality guideline level) is expressed in absolute numbers and over time. Under the zero pollution action plan, the European Commission set a goal to reduce the number of premature deaths caused by PM_2.5 by at least 55% by 2030 (compared with 2005). The revised Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, coupled with stricter requirements to tackle air pollution at source (such as from agriculture, industry, transport, buildings and energy) should assist in reaching this target.

More information on the burden of disease from air pollution can be found as part of the geospatial data catalogue on the EEA website.

Landscape features

LUCAS 2022 was conducted from March 2022 to August 2023. For the first time, it included a module for collecting data on landscape features. The module aims to provide valuable insights into the presence and characteristics of small-scale, non-productive elements in the European agricultural landscape – for example, features like hedges, trees, ditches, walls and field margins – all of which play an essential role in biodiversity and ecosystem connectivity.

By systematically capturing this information, the landscape features module enhances the understanding of Europe’s rural and semi-natural environments, supporting EU policy initiatives and helping to integrate landscape-level data into land-use planning, environmental management and agricultural sustainability assessments.

Within the landscape features module, each feature is classified by type. It is important to underline that the survey only focuses on features within or directly adjacent to agricultural land. To ensure consistency, the module defines minimum and maximum sizes for landscape features:

linear features should have a width between 1 metre and 20 metres
patch features should have an area between 1 square metre and 5 000 square metres (0.5 hectares).

More information on the development work done on landscape features can be found on the JRC’s website.

More information on the Estimation of the share of Landscape Features in agricultural land based on the LUCAS 2022 survey can be found on the JRC’s website.

The European Commission has established a sustainable development monitoring system – the EU SDG indicator set. It comprises more than 100 indicators, which are reviewed on an annual basis. These indicators are used to monitor progress towards achieving the SDGs in an EU context and also form the basis of an annual publication Sustainable development in the European Union – Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context. Some of these indicators are available for both EU countries and regions.

The regional indicators presented in this chapter are sourced from the EEA and the JRC. They include:

Context

Broad environmental policies and actions

The EU is fully committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and has embarked on a transition towards a low-carbon, climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy. The European Commission adopted a EU Voluntary Review on progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (COM(2023) 700 final) in May 2023.

In May 2022, Decision (EU) 2022/591 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030, otherwise referred to as the 8th environment action programme (EAP) entered into force. This decision provides a legally agreed common agenda to guide the EU’s environmental policy. The 8th EAP calls for active engagement of stakeholders at all levels of governance to ensure that EU climate and environment laws are effectively implemented. It also forms the basis for the EU to contribute to the UN’s 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The 8th EAP set out 6 priority objectives:

achieve a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (compared with 1990) and reach climate neutrality by 2050
enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change
advance a regenerative growth model, decoupling economic growth from resource use and environmental degradation, and accelerating the transition to a circular economy
pursue a zero-pollution ambition for air, water and soil, while protecting the health and well-being of Europeans
protect, preserve and restore biodiversity
reduce environmental and climate pressures related to production and consumption, particularly in energy, industry, buildings and infrastructure, mobility, tourism, international trade and the food system.

The European Commission will monitor progress towards these objectives with the 8th EAP monitoring framework adopted in July 2022. A mid-term review of the 8th EAP was carried out in March 2024.

Climate change

The EU has been actively collaborating with global partners to promote and reinforce international efforts on climate change. It has played a pivotal role in negotiating and upholding environmental agreements such as the UN framework convention on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the EU works with countries on a bilateral basis, incorporating climate considerations into trade negotiations and sharing expertise to encourage actions against climate change. Financial support is also provided to assist developing nations in their climate mitigation and adaptation endeavours.

The European Climate Law establishes binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for net zero by 2050. The law sets an interim goal of reducing net emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. It mandates that all EU policies align with these objectives, ensuring every sector contributes to the effort, a principle known as ‘climate mainstreaming’. Progress towards the targets is assessed every 5 years and aligned with the global review process of the Paris Agreement. In 2025, the European Commission assessed progress towards the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality and adaptation objectives in a Climate Action Progress Report.

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 will be more challenging for some EU regions than for others. Regions may be more reliant on fossil fuels or have their local economies based on carbon-intensive industries. The EU introduced a just transition mechanism to provide targeted support, during the period 2021 to 2027, to alleviate the socio-economic impact of the transition and higher levels of investment to achieve the climate goals.

Drought

Droughts significantly undermine nature’s ability to provide essential environmental, social and economic benefits. They jeopardise the EU’s climate mitigation and adaptation goals and hinder the implementation of biodiversity and soil strategies.

The EU, particularly in Mediterranean regions, faces growing risks of water scarcity and drought. Drought management plans aim to ensure sufficient water for essential human needs, safeguard public health, protect the ecological status of water bodies and minimise negative impacts on economic activities.

Forging a climate-resilient Europe – the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change (COM(2021) 82 final) was adopted in February 2021; it outlines how the EU can build resilience to unavoidable climate impacts. It calls for integrating drought risk management into broader adaptation efforts through drought management plans, enhanced water retention and safe water reuse. A 2023 European Commission Report on the implementation of the EU strategy on adaptation to climate change (SWD(2023) 338 final) assessed national drought policies and planning across EU countries. It highlighted the increasing severity of droughts and the urgent need for harmonised strategies and better preparedness to limit their impact on society, the economy and ecosystems.

In her 2024 to 2029 political guidelines, the European Commission President announced a European water resilience strategy, aimed at improving water management, addressing scarcity, and boosting the competitiveness and innovation of the EU water industry through a circular economy approach. The strategy – adopted in June 2025 – aims to enhance water security across Europe by providing a comprehensive plan to restore the natural water cycle, ensure access to clean and affordable water, and foster a water-smart economy. It outlines over 50 key actions which will guide the EU to water resilience, providing support to EU countries so they may manage their water resources more efficiently.

Air pollution

The long-term objective of EU policymaking on air pollution is to achieve levels of air quality that do not result in unacceptable impacts on, and risks to, human health and the environment. In 2021, the European Commission adopted an action plan Towards zero pollution for air, water and soil (COM(2021) 400 final). More specifically, EU policies aim to reduce the number of premature deaths and sicknesses caused by air pollution and to reduce pollution pressure on ecosystems and biodiversity. The zero pollution action plan aims to reduce, by 2030, the number of premature deaths attributed to particulate matter by 55% (as compared with 2005). In January 2026, the European Commission adopted a Mid-term review of the Zero Pollution Action Plan – Delivering clean air, ocean, freshwaters and soil (COM(2026) 42 final). It underlined that while some air pollution developments had improved, faster and more coordinated action was required if EU countries are to meet their 2030 zero pollution targets and fully protect health and ecosystems.

In the Ambient Air Quality Directives, the EU set air quality standards, including limit values and target values for various air pollutants. For PM_2.5, Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe set an average of 25 µg/m³ as the annual limit value and an annual average of 20 µg/m³ as an indicative limit value.

In 2021, the WHO published new air quality guidelines, whereby annual average concentrations of PM_2.5 should not exceed 5 µg/m³ in order to protect human health. The EU has revised its air quality standards to align them more closely with the recommendations of the WHO. In November 2024, a revised Directive (EU) 2024/2881 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe included a new target whereby annual average concentrations for PM_2.5 should not exceed 10 µg/m³ by the start of 2030.

Landscape features

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 sets ambitious goals to help biodiversity recover. Key targets include expanding protected land and sea areas, strengthening ecosystem resilience and reversing declines in important species. The strategy aims for landscape features to cover at least 10% of all agricultural land by 2030.

The EU’s Nature Restoration Law establishes legally binding restoration targets, including the restoration of degraded ecosystems across at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030. It also encourages measures such as increasing high-diversity landscape features in agricultural land.

The common agricultural policy supports both the biodiversity strategy and Nature Restoration Law through implementation guidance on landscape features. This guidance promotes features such as hedgerows, ponds and field margins, which are incorporated into environmental standards and strategic plans, allowing for analyses of their coverage and connectivity.

This article forms part of Eurostat’s annual flagship publication, the Eurostat regional yearbook.

You can explore the maps interactively using Eurostat’s Statistical Atlas.

Explore further

Database

Thematic section

Publications

Paper and PDF publications

Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026 edition
Sustainable development in the European Union: monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context – 2026 edition
Sustainable development in the European Union – Overview of progress towards the SDGs in an EU context – 2026 edition

Online publications

Visualisation

Methodology

Manuals and further methodological information

Metadata

Air pollutants by source sector (ESMS metadata file – env_air_emis_esms)
The EU SDG indicator set

Legislation

Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC and repealing Directive 2001/81/EC
Directive (EU) 2024/2881 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe
Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality (‘European Climate Law’)
Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2024 on nature restoration
Summaries of EU legislation: cleaner air for Europe

External links

European Commission

European Environment Agency (EEA)

Joint Research Centre

United Nations

Environment statistics at regional level

Highlights

Climate change mitigation

Climate change impacts

Air quality

Landscape features

Source data for figures and maps

Data sources

Joint Research Centre

European Environment Agency (EEA)

Landscape features

Context

Explore further

Other articles

Database

Thematic section

Publications

Visualisation

Methodology

Legislation

External links