Eurostat: Bulgaria had EU’s largest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in Q1 2025 y/y

Six European Union countries – Bulgaria, Czechia, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary and Greece – were estimated to have increased their greenhouse gas emissions by more than five per cent in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the first quarter of 2024, EU statistics agency said on August 14.

In the first quarter of 2025, compared with the same quarter of 2024, increases in greenhouse gas emissions were estimated for 20 EU countries, while decreases were estimated for the remaining seven countries, Eurostat said.

The largest reductions in greenhouse gases were estimated for Malta (-6.2 per cent), Finland (-4.4 per cent) and Denmark (-4.3 per cent).

Out of the seven EU countries that registered decreases in greenhouse gas emissions, three also recorded a decline in their GDP (Estonia, Latvia and Luxembourg).

The other four EU countries (Denmark, Finland, Malta and Sweden) were estimated to have decreased emissions while growing their GDP.

The EU economy greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 900 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq) in the first quarter of 2025, a 3.4 per cent increase compared with the same quarter of 2024 (871 million tonnes of CO2-eq).

At the same time, the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, compared with the same quarter of 2024, Eurostat said.

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