Exposure of Europe’s population to environmental noise (Indicator)

Key messages: Over 20% of the EU population lives in areas with levels of transport noise that are harmful to health, based on Environmental Noise Directive (END) thresholds. When the more stringent World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds are applied, this figure increases to over 30%. Between 2017 and 2022, there was 2% decrease in the number of people exposed to harmful noise levels. Road traffic is the primary source of noise pollution in urban and rural areas. Although railway and aircraft noise impact fewer individuals, they remain significant contributors to local noise issues.

Between 2017 and 2022, there was a marginal decline in the population affected by harmful noise levels.However, definitive conclusions regarding this trend are difficult to make due to changes in the calculation methodologies used during these years.

Nevertheless, data from 2022 indicate that a substantial number of people still live in areas where transport noise is detrimental to health. Approximately 106 million individuals — over 20% of Europe's population — are exposed to long-term, unhealthy noise levels from road, rail and aircraft sources, as defined by END thresholds (which refer to exposure levels of 55dB or above during the day-evening-night period).

Considering that the recommended values established by WHO are significantly lower than the END thresholds (WHO, 2018), it is likely that a much larger segment of the population is exposed to transport noise levels that are harmful to health. Therefore, when applying WHO’s thresholds, it is estimated that over 30% of Europe’s population could be affected, with this figure exceeding 50% in many urban areas.

Road traffic remains the primary contributor to noise pollution in urban and rural settings, while railway and aircraft noise, though impacting fewer individuals, also significantly add to local noise.

Please consult the relevant indicators and signals below for a more comprehensive overview on the topic.

Zero Pollution Action Plan 2030 target or policy objectives

Reduce the share of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30%.

Return to the main pages:

Health

Zero pollution monitoring assessment

This assessment is based on reported data on population exposure to noise submitted under the END. The data for 2022 are approximately 80% complete. A gap-filling exercise was conducted to complete the missing noise data.

More information is available at the EEA’s indicator page

Links to methodologies and datasets used are outlined below:

indicator (EEA, 2024a);
noise data used in this assessment (EEA, 2024b);
a 2017 baseline comparable to 2022 has been established using this methodology and is used in the noise outlook assessment (Blanes et al., 2024);
methodology used to extrapolate values below END thresholds (Engelmann et al., 2023).

Other relevant indicators and signals

The health effects of transport noise and implications for future health risk assessments (Signal)

Impacts of environmental noise on biodiversity (Signal)

Pollution and the European environment and health atlas (Signal)

References and footnotes

WHO Europe, 2018, Environmental noise guidelines for the European region, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/279952/9789289053563-eng.pdf?sequence=1 ) accessed 6 October 2024. 
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EEA, 2024a, ‘Exposure of Europe’s population to environmental noise’ (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/exposure-of-europe-population-to-noise) accessed 1 December 2024.
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EEA, 2024b, ‘Noise data reported under Environmental Noise Directive (END)’ (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/datahub/datahubitem-view/c952f520-8d71-42c9-b74c-b7eb002f939b) accessed 4 October 2024.
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Blanes, N., et al., 2024, ETC HE Report 2023/10: Development of a 2017 baseline to monitor noise under the zero pollution objectives, Eionet (https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-he/products/etc-he-products/etc-he-reports/etc-he-report-2023-9-wp-3-2-5-3-development-of-a-2017-baseline-to-monitor-noise-under-the-zero-pollution-objectives) accessed 4 October 2024.
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Engelmann, N., et al., 2023, ETC HE Report 2023/11: Environmental noise health risk assessment: methodology for assessing health risks using data reported under the Environmental Noise Directive, Eionet (https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-he/products/etc-he-products/etc-he-reports/etc-he-report-2023-11-environmental-noise-health-risk-assessment-methodology-for-assessing-health-risks-using-data-reported-under-the-environmental-noise-directive) accessed 4 October 2024.
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