LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – Eurostat said EU economy greenhouse gas emissions rose 0.3% in the first quarter of 2026. Seasonally adjusted emissions reached 837 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, up from 835 million tonnes in the previous quarter. European Union gross domestic product showed no quarterly change over the same period. The figures provide the latest measure of greenhouse gas emissions generated by economic activities and households across the 27-member bloc.
Compared with the first quarter of 2025, emissions fell 1.2%, while EU GDP increased 0.8%, Eurostat data showed. The emissions figures cover carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases, expressed in CO2-equivalent terms. Eurostat adjusts the quarterly emissions series for seasonal effects to support comparisons between consecutive periods. The Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain supplied their own emissions estimates, while Eurostat estimated data for the remaining European Union member states.
Electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply recorded the largest quarterly emissions increase, rising 4.8%. Water supply, sewerage and waste management emissions increased 0.7%. Household emissions fell 1.3%, while manufacturing, construction, and transportation and storage each declined 0.6%. Manufacturing remained the largest named contributor to total EU emissions at 20.8%, followed by households at 20.2%. Electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply accounted for another 16.5% of the total.
Emissions rise in 20 EU countries
Quarterly greenhouse gas emissions increased in 20 of the EU’s 27 member states and decreased in seven. Estonia recorded the largest rise at 9.7%, followed by Finland at 6.4% and Bulgaria at 4.6%. Eurostat linked those increases largely to higher emissions from construction and electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply. Slovenia posted the steepest decline at 5.0%, followed by Luxembourg at 3.8% and Romania at 2.7% during the quarter.
Among the 20 countries where greenhouse gas emissions increased, 18 also recorded GDP growth during the quarter. Four of the seven countries that reduced emissions reported higher or stable economic output. Those four countries were Spain, Greece, France and Slovenia. The figures provide a country-level view alongside the EU-wide totals, showing how quarterly emissions and GDP changed across member states during the first three months of 2026.
Annual emissions remain below 2015 levels
Separate annual data from Eurostat put EU economy and household greenhouse gas emissions at 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2025. That total was 17.2% below the level recorded in 2015. The annual measure covers all economic activities and households combined. The latest quarterly figures show that emissions remained below their year-earlier level in early 2026 despite the small increase from the final quarter of 2025.
Eurostat publishes quarterly greenhouse gas estimates to complement economic indicators including GDP and employment. The data classify emissions by economic activity and households, allowing comparisons across sectors and European Union member states. For the first quarter of 2026, the figures recorded a modest quarterly emissions increase alongside unchanged EU GDP. Against the same quarter of 2025, the direction reversed, with greenhouse gas emissions falling 1.2% as economic output increased 0.8%.