site.btaBulgaria Registers Largest Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in EU in Q2 2023

Bulgaria registered the largest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 (-23.7%), according to Eurostat data released on Wednesday. The reduction is coupled with an increase in this country’s GDP growth on an annual basis in the second quarter. 

In the second quarter of 2023, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions totalled 821 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents, a 5.3% decrease compared with the same quarter of 2022 (867 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents). The decrease is largely related to the gross domestic product (GDP) dynamics of the European Union Member States, which remained stable registering just a very small variation in the same period.

Significant decreases in greenhouse gas emissions were also registered in Estonia (-23.1%) and the Netherlands (-10.3%).

The largest increases were recorded in Malta (+7.7%), Latvia (+4.5%), Ireland (+3.6%), Lithuania (+3.0%), Cyprus (+1.7%) and Croatia (+1.0%).

In the second quarter of 2023, the economic sectors responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions were manufacturing (23.5%), households (17.9%), electricity, gas supply (15.5%), agriculture (14.3%) and transportation and storage (12.8%). 

Compared with the second quarter of 2022, emissions decreased in six out of nine economic sectors. The biggest decrease was registered in electricity and gas supply (-22.0%). The main sector in which emissions increased was transportation and storage (+1.7%).