Information on data
Eurostat produces environmental statistics, accounts, and indicators. The data provide information on the state of the environment and its interaction with human activities, in particular production and consumption activities.
An example of statistics on the state of the environment is volumes of water resources, which is critical to the survival of all living organisms. An example of the interaction of human activities with the environment is the emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants by different economic activities.
Environmental statistics
Eurostat produces environmental statistics for example about water and hazardous chemical substances.
Eurostat also produces statistics about related topics, such as waste, circular economy, climate change, forests, agriculture, and sustainable development. The latter are published in other thematic sections on the Eurostat website.
Environmental statistics are produced in collaboration with national authorities of EU countries and other partners. The statistics are based on specific data collections, such as the joint questionnaire on inland waters, or are derived from multi-purpose statistics, such as the hazardous chemicals statistics derived from production and trade statistics.
Environmental accounts
Environmental accounts analyse the environmental impact of economic activity and policy measures as well as social activity. They are compiled in a way compatible with national accounts. They classify economic activities according to the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE).
They allow to identify the parts of the economy which are ‘green’ or ‘greener’ than others. For examples, with regard to:
- the number of environmental jobs
- environmental investments
- the ratio between the value added of industries and their use of environment resources (environmental intensities and productivities)
Environmental accounts also enable the calculation of environmental footprints, meaning the environmental resources (including materials and energy) used for producing the products we consume or invest in.
Eurostat accounts are:
- air emission accounts (greenhouse gases and air pollutants)
- environmental taxes by economic activity
- material flow accounts
- environmental protection expenditure accounts
- environmental goods and services sector accounts
- physical energy flow accounts.
In 2025, Eurostat will start collecting forest accounts as well as environmental subsidies and similar transfers and in 2026, ecosystem accounts.
Eurostat adheres to the international standards of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA 2012).
Ecosystem accounts are a type of environmental accounts that tracks changes in ecosystems – their area and condition (health) – and measures the flow of services the nature provides to the economy and society. For example, they allow quantifying the contribution of pollinators to the economy and the effects of their decline on agricultural production. Those services are related to the extent and condition of different ecosystem types as degraded ecosystems tend to provide less of a service. This supports decision making in the context of sustainable resource, natural capital and environmental management and other relevant policy areas.
The amended EU regulation 691/2011 requests EU countries to produce estimates of ecosystem extent, condition and certain ecosystem services, and transmit these data to Eurostat as of 2026. Country reporting builds on experience learnt from the Commission INCA project.
Eurostat adheres to the international standard of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA 2021).
Environmental indicators
Environmental indicators are based on statistics and accounts. They allow comparisons over time, provide warning signals, and help in taking decisions. Eurostat provides indicators for many topics on the page selected tables in this section.
Because the environment is an important factor in many EU policies, related indicators are also included in different policy sets. These include Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), circular economy, and statistics for the European Green Deal.
Eurostat also re-disseminates relevant data from the European Environmental Agency, the Joint Research Centre, and other producers. Eurostat works together with the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and other international organisations to establish common methodologies for global environmental statistics and accounts.