What EU country reported the biggest decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in Q4 2024?

Greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at 897 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalents, a 2.2% increase, year-on-year, however a number of countries reported a decrease, new data from Eurostat has found.

Estonia reported a 11.3% year-on-year decrease in emissions in the quarter, followed by Finland, which saw a 6.1% drop, and Sweden, which recorded a 2.3% reduction.

Other countries to report a reduction in emissions in the quarter included Luxembourg (-2.3%), Austria (-1.7%) and Latvia (-1.4%). As Eurostat noted, four of these six countries – Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Luxembourg – achieved emission reductions while also registering economic growth.

The remainder of EU member states reported an increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the quarter, with the biggest increase seen in Lithuania (+10.8%), followed by Slovenia (+9.4%), Greece (+8.1%) and Croatia (+6.2%).

Emissions by sector

At an EU level, the largest contributors on a segment-by-segment basis to the emissions increase were households, which saw a 5.2% rise in emissions, and the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply sector, which recorded a 4.6% increase.

The economic sectors responsible for the biggest reduction in emissions, compared with the corresponding quarter a year earlier, were agriculture, forestry and fishing (-0.6%), manufacturing (-0.5%) and construction (-0.5%)

The overall rise in emissions occurred alongside a 1.5% year-on-year increase in the EU’s gross domestic product, Eurostat noted. Read more here.

Annual Emissions Change – EU, Q4 2024 (%)