Data / Rankings / Greenhouse gas emissions / EU countries

EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions

Germany had the highest greenhouse gas emissions of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 899.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Malta had the lowest, at 1.84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The median was 62.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and the figure for the European Union (27) was 3,796.92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest899.03Germany
Lowest1.84Malta
Median62.6727 EU countries
European Union (27)3,796.92History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Austria: 80.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentBelgium: 117 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentBulgaria: 58.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCyprus: 8.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCzechia: 127.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGermany: 899.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDenmark: 52.32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentEstonia: 19.52 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSpain: 320.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFinland: 58.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFrance: 463.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGreece: 92.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCroatia: 24.81 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHungary: 63.08 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIreland: 62.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentItaly: 434.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLithuania: 19.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLuxembourg: 10.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLatvia: 10.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMalta: 1.84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNetherlands: 195.27 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPoland: 392.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPortugal: 65.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRomania: 104.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSweden: 53.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSlovenia: 17.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSlovakia: 42.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent
  • Under 20
  • 20 to 55
  • 55 to 74
  • 74 to 180
  • 180 and over
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 2016. Source: European Environment Agency greenhouse gas inventory (via Eurostat), Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

Germany: 899.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGermany899.03France: 463.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFrance463.71Italy: 434.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentItaly434.67Poland: 392.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPoland392.57Spain: 320.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSpain320.97Netherlands: 195.27 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNetherlands195.27Czechia: 127.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCzechia127.6Belgium: 117 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentBelgium117Romania: 104.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRomania104.94Greece: 92.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGreece92.4Austria: 80.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAustria80.31Portugal: 65.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPortugal65.63Hungary: 63.08 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHungary63.08Ireland: 62.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIreland62.67Bulgaria: 58.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentBulgaria58.07Finland: 58.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFinland58.01Sweden: 53.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSweden53.16Denmark: 52.32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDenmark52.32Slovakia: 42.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSlovakia42.25Croatia: 24.81 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCroatia24.81Lithuania: 19.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLithuania19.71Estonia: 19.52 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentEstonia19.52Slovenia: 17.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSlovenia17.8Latvia: 10.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLatvia10.64Luxembourg: 10.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLuxembourg10.16Cyprus: 8.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCyprus8.78Malta: 1.84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMalta1.84Germany: 899.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGermany899.03France: 463.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFrance463.71Italy: 434.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentItaly434.67Poland: 392.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPoland392.57Spain: 320.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSpain320.97Netherlands: 195.27 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNetherlands195.27Czechia: 127.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCzechia127.6Belgium: 117 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentBelgium117Romania: 104.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRomania104.94Greece: 92.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGreece92.4Austria: 80.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAustria80.31Portugal: 65.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPortugal65.63Hungary: 63.08 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHungary63.08Ireland: 62.67 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIreland62.67Bulgaria: 58.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentBulgaria58.07Finland: 58.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFinland58.01Sweden: 53.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSweden53.16Denmark: 52.32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDenmark52.32Slovakia: 42.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSlovakia42.25Croatia: 24.81 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCroatia24.81Lithuania: 19.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLithuania19.71Estonia: 19.52 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentEstonia19.52Slovenia: 17.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSlovenia17.8Latvia: 10.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLatvia10.64Luxembourg: 10.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLuxembourg10.16Cyprus: 8.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCyprus8.78Malta: 1.84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMalta1.84
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: European Environment Agency greenhouse gas inventory (via Eurostat), Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2016
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent		Change on 2015
1Germany899.030%
2France463.71+0.6%
3Italy434.67-0.9%
4Poland392.57+2.8%
5Spain320.97-3.4%
6Netherlands195.27+0.3%
7Czechia127.6+1.9%
8Belgium117-1.2%
9Romania104.94-1.6%
10Greece92.4-3.8%
11Austria80.31+1.2%
12Portugal65.63-2.7%
13Hungary63.08+1%
14Ireland62.67+3.8%
15Bulgaria58.07-4.3%
16Finland58.01+5.1%
17Sweden53.16-0.2%
18Denmark52.32+4%
19Slovakia42.25+2%
20Croatia24.81+0.7%
21Lithuania19.71+0.3%
22Estonia19.52+9%
23Slovenia17.8+5.3%
24Latvia10.64-0.3%
25Luxembourg10.16-2.1%
26Cyprus8.78+5.2%
27Malta1.84-13.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Total greenhouse gas emissions in million tonnes of CO2 equivalent: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases, including indirect CO2.

More on how it is measured
  • National inventory reported to the UNFCCC (and, for EU members, to the EU): the seven Kyoto gases weighted by their 100-year global warming potential.
  • Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) and international aviation and shipping are not included.

Covers all greenhouse gases, so it is higher than energy_co2_emissions, which counts CO2 from energy use only. The EU climate targets also count international aviation and LULUCF, which this total leaves out. Each annual submission recalculates the whole series back to 1990, so past values change between releases.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

European Environment Agency (EEA), national greenhouse gas inventories reported under the EU Governance Regulation, as published by Eurostat. Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA) (EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table

MLA 9

Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA), EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions, 2016. Eurostat, European Commission, 2 June 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA). EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA), EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_greenhouse_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env\_air\_gge, source: EEA): EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: European Environment Agency (EEA), national greenhouse gas inventories reported under the EU Governance Regulation, as published by Eurostat. Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env\_air\_gge, source: EEA). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env\_air\_gge/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA): EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions, 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/02
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: European Environment Agency (EEA), national greenhouse gas inventories reported under the EU Governance Regulation, as published by Eurostat. Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_air_gge/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by greenhouse gas emissions using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"ghg_emissions_total","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=ghg_emissions_total&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest greenhouse gas emissions?

Germany, with 899.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions?

Malta, with 1.84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector, total excluding LULUCF and memo items, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (env_air_gge, source: EEA). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings