Industrial pollutant releases to air in Europe

Industrial releases into the air of substances harmful to human health and damaging to the climate and the environment decreased significantly between 2010 and 2024 in Europe. This decrease occurred while the value generated by industry for the European economy increased, and therefore represents an efficiency gain in terms of the ratio between emissions produced and the sector’s economic output.

Figure 1. Industrial releases of pollutants to air and economic activity in the EU-27

The activity of European industry results in the release of pollutants to air. These include substances affecting the climate, known as greenhouse gases, such as CO₂,and pollutants that damage human health and the environment, such as nitrogen oxides (NO_x), particulate matter (in this case PM₁₀), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), acidifying pollutants (e.g. sulphur oxides — SO_x and NOx), and heavy metals including cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg).

EU industrial policy aims to drive a transition to a strong, climate-neutral industry based on circular material flows. Monitoring the release of air pollutants is key to tracking progress towards achieving these goals.

Industrial emissions to air are reported under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP Convention), the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation (for greenhouse gases) and the European Industrial Emission Portal Regulation, which covers releases from large industrial facilities involved in certain activities.

Between 2010 and 2024, industrial releases of heavy metals (Cd, Hg and Pb), SO_x and PM₁₀decreased over 75 % in the European Union. Releases of other pollutants decreased less but still achieved significant reductions: NO_x almost 60 %, NMVOC by 41 % and CO₂ by 38 %.

During the same period, the value that industry generated for the economy — as measured by gross added value (GVA) — increased, indicating that European industry has become less emission intensive, as the ratio of air pollutant releases to the production of industrial goods decreased. The trend in GVA trend illustrates industry's full recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, followed by a more recent period of stagnation, highlighted by the increasing role of structural economic shifts in key sectors.

Figure 2. Change of pollutant releases into air in EU-27 countries in the period 2010-2024

The decrease in industrial pollutant emissions to air can be partly attributed to European regulation, such as the EU Emissions Trading Systemand the Industrial Emissions Directive (recently revised in 2024).

These policies stimulated improvements in energy efficiency and uptake of abatement technologies, as well as progressive fossil-fuel phase-out. Since 2010, emission levels from the industrial sector decreased at a steady rate, achieving emission reduction over 50 % for pollutants like SO_x, NO_x and PM₁₀.

Reductions in emission levels for heavy metals (Cd, Hg and Pb) are more variable, partly because better monitoring and reporting in certain countries can reveal previously underreported emissions, making it appear as if levels are rising.

Supporting information

Definition

This indicator tracks trends of industrial emissions of selected air pollutants. The indicator includes releases of carbon dioxide (CO₂), the most significant greenhouse gas, acidifying pollutants (sulphur oxides (SO_x), nitrogen oxides (NO_x)), and other pollutants that damage human health and the environment, such as particulate matter (PM₁₀), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and heavy metals (cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg)). These trends are presented together with the trend of gross value added (GVA) by industry, as an indicator of the economic contribution of the sector.

The aggregated EU-27 trends feature in Figure 1, while country specific trend changes are offered in Figure 2.

The geographical coverage comprises the 27-EU Member States (EU-27) (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden).

The temporal coverage is 2010-2024. Data were reported to the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR).

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

Queries are applied to the Industrial Emissions Database (where the E-PRTR is included) to extract and aggregate emissions reported individually for each operator in Europe to produce figure 1 and 2. Emissions are aggregated at country and European level, indexed to 2010 levels and a trend line is then constructed.

For Figure 1, the gross added value is indexed to 2010 levels and a trend line constructed.

Gap filling was performed to complete data missing for some countries in the last years of the timeline. Future versions will account to more complete datasets as countries resolve these issues as time passes by.

While E-PRTR contains data since 2007, the earlier years are known as incomplete and of lesser quality. This has led to the indicator showing data as from 2010.

Methodology for gap filling

Czechia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia did not report any data from 2023: gap-filling performed with 2022 data. Cyprus did not report data for 2024: gap-filling performed with 2023 data.

Policy/environmental relevance

Anthropogenic air emissions contribute to a wide range of detrimental effects for the environment and human health. While many human activities contribute to these emissions, industry is a very significant sources. This indicator presents substances where industry contribution is particularly relevant.

The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) require industry operators to submit, among other data, values for releases of pollutants to the atmosphere across 91 pollutants.

Air pollution and air quality are regulated through various mechanisms in the EU. Industrial air emissions operate with a dedicated policy, Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions. This EU legislation imposes a case-by-case permit for large industrial operators which contains emission limit values to air. These emissions, when above certain annual load thresholds, are to be reported to the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR).

This indicator is useful to capture how the industrial emission policy contributes to a progressive reduction of air releases in Europe. Due to the way the reporting mechanisms are designed, this indicator reflects emissions from large operators and only when annual releases are above the legally established thresholds. In other words, the indicator tracks emissions significant at a European scale and does not cover emissions from smaller operators.

Targets

No target is specified.

Accuracy and uncertaintiesData sources and providers

Metadata

DPSIRTopicsTagsTemporal coverageGeographic coverage

TypologyUN SDGsUnit of measureFrequency of dissemination

Industrial pollutant releases to air in Europe

Figure 1. Industrial releases of pollutants to air and economic activity in the EU-27

Figure 2. Change of pollutant releases into air in EU-27 countries in the period 2010-2024

Supporting information

Methodology for indicator calculation

Methodology for gap filling

Targets

Methodology uncertainty

Data sets uncertainty

Rationale uncertainty

Metadata

References and footnotes