Data / Rankings / Municipal waste generated per person / EU countries

EU countries by municipal waste generated per person

Denmark had the highest municipal waste generated per person of 27 EU countries in 2019, at 844 kg per person. Romania had the lowest, at 280 kg per person. The median was 503 kg per person and the figure for the European Union (27) was 505 kg per person. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest844Denmark
Lowest280Romania
Median50327 EU countries
European Union (27)505History

Map of EU countries, 2019

Austria: 588 kg per personBelgium: 416 kg per personBulgaria: 465 kg per personCyprus: 653 kg per personCzechia: 500 kg per personGermany: 609 kg per personDenmark: 844 kg per personEstonia: 369 kg per personSpain: 472 kg per personFinland: 566 kg per personFrance: 555 kg per personGreece: 528 kg per personCroatia: 459 kg per personHungary: 390 kg per personIreland: 620 kg per personItaly: 503 kg per personLithuania: 469 kg per personLuxembourg: 791 kg per personLatvia: 439 kg per personMalta: 697 kg per personNetherlands: 508 kg per personPoland: 336 kg per personPortugal: 510 kg per personRomania: 280 kg per personSweden: 449 kg per personSlovenia: 504 kg per personSlovakia: 421 kg per person
  • Under 420
  • 420 to 470
  • 470 to 510
  • 510 to 600
  • 600 and over
kg per person, 2019. Source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2019

Denmark: 844 kg per personDenmark844Luxembourg: 791 kg per personLuxembourg791Malta: 697 kg per personMalta697Cyprus: 653 kg per personCyprus653Ireland: 620 kg per personIreland620Germany: 609 kg per personGermany609Austria: 588 kg per personAustria588Finland: 566 kg per personFinland566France: 555 kg per personFrance555Greece: 528 kg per personGreece528Portugal: 510 kg per personPortugal510Netherlands: 508 kg per personNetherlands508Slovenia: 504 kg per personSlovenia504Italy: 503 kg per personItaly503Czechia: 500 kg per personCzechia500Spain: 472 kg per personSpain472Lithuania: 469 kg per personLithuania469Bulgaria: 465 kg per personBulgaria465Croatia: 459 kg per personCroatia459Sweden: 449 kg per personSweden449Latvia: 439 kg per personLatvia439Slovakia: 421 kg per personSlovakia421Belgium: 416 kg per personBelgium416Hungary: 390 kg per personHungary390Estonia: 369 kg per personEstonia369Poland: 336 kg per personPoland336Romania: 280 kg per personRomania280Denmark: 844 kg per personDenmark844Luxembourg: 791 kg per personLuxembourg791Malta: 697 kg per personMalta697Cyprus: 653 kg per personCyprus653Ireland: 620 kg per personIreland620Germany: 609 kg per personGermany609Austria: 588 kg per personAustria588Finland: 566 kg per personFinland566France: 555 kg per personFrance555Greece: 528 kg per personGreece528Portugal: 510 kg per personPortugal510Netherlands: 508 kg per personNetherlands508Slovenia: 504 kg per personSlovenia504Italy: 503 kg per personItaly503Czechia: 500 kg per personCzechia500Spain: 472 kg per personSpain472Lithuania: 469 kg per personLithuania469Bulgaria: 465 kg per personBulgaria465Croatia: 459 kg per personCroatia459Sweden: 449 kg per personSweden449Latvia: 439 kg per personLatvia439Slovakia: 421 kg per personSlovakia421Belgium: 416 kg per personBelgium416Hungary: 390 kg per personHungary390Estonia: 369 kg per personEstonia369Poland: 336 kg per personPoland336Romania: 280 kg per personRomania280
kg per person. Source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2019
kg per person		Change on 2018
1Denmark844+3.7%
2Luxembourg Estimated791-1.5%
3Malta697+3.6%
4Cyprus653+0.3%
5Ireland620+4.2%
6Germany Estimated609+0.5%
7Austria588+1.6%
8Finland566+2.7%
9France Estimated555-0.4%
10Greece528+1.7%
11Portugal510+1.2%
12Netherlands508-0.6%
13Slovenia504+3.7%
14Italy503-0.2%
15Czechia500+1.2%
16Spain472-0.6%
17Lithuania469+1.7%
18Bulgaria465+9.2%
19Croatia459+3.6%
20Sweden449+3.5%
21Latvia439+7.9%
22Slovakia421+1.7%
23Belgium416+1.7%
24Hungary390+1.6%
25Estonia369-8.9%
26Poland336+2.1%
27Romania280+2.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Municipal waste generated in the year, in kilograms per inhabitant: household waste and similar waste from shops, offices and public institutions, collected by or for municipalities.

Countries differ in how much commercial waste they count as municipal, which explains part of the gap between them.

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

Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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). Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun) (EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table

MLA 9

Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun), EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2019. Eurostat, European Commission, 30 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2019.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun), EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_municipal_2019,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env\_wasmun): EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2019}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2019. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env\_wasmun). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env\_wasmun/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun): EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2019
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/30
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2019.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest municipal waste generated per person?

Denmark, with 844 kg per person in 2019, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest municipal waste generated per person?

Romania, with 280 kg per person in 2019.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings