BRUSSELS, 13th November, 2026 (WAM) -- The EU economy’s seasonally adjusted greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the second quarter of 2026 were estimated at 833 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq), a 0.5% decrease compared with the first quarter of 2026 (837 million tonnes of CO2-eq), according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
At the same time, the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2026, compared with the first quarter of this year.
The following economic activities contributed the most to this reduction of emissions: electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply emissions (-0.44 percentage points (pp)), followed by households (-0.22 pp) and transportation and storage (-0.01 pp). These decreases were partly offset by higher emissions from other economic activities (mostly services) (+0.14 pp) and manufacturing (+0.05 pp).
In the second quarter of 2026, seasonally adjusted greenhouse gas emissions increased in 8 EU countries, decreased in 18 countries, and remained unchanged in 1 country, compared with the first quarter of 2026.
The largest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions were estimated for Estonia (-15.5%), Latvia (-10.6%) and Finland (-7.6%).
The largest increases in these emissions were estimated for Malta (+4.8%), Ireland (+1.0%) and Romania (+0.8%).
The 8 EU countries that recorded increases in greenhouse gas emissions also increased their GDP. 18 countries reduced their greenhouse gas emissions and out of these, 16 countries recorded a higher or stable GDP.