In the first quarter of 2022, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions totalled 1 029 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq), a 7% and 6% increase compared with the same quarter of 2020 and 2021, but still below pre-COVID levels registered in the first quarter of 2019, when the EU economy emitted 1 035 million tonnes of CO2-eq.
The documented increases were largely due to the effect of the economic rebound after the sharp decrease in activity due to the COVID-19 crisis.
In the first quarter of 2022, the economic sectors responsible for most emissions of greenhouse gases were households (24%), electricity, gas supply (21%) and manufacturing (20%), followed by agriculture (12%) and transportation and storage (10%). Greenhouse gas emissions increased in all sectors compared with the same period of 2021, except for households which remained at the same level (245 million tonnes of CO2-eq.). The highest increases were recorded in transportation and storage (+21%), mining (+15%) and construction (+11%).