Cyprus consistently produces more emissions than EU average

The emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) per person employed has consistently declined since 2010 in the European Union, due to a combination of decreasing GHG emissions and increasing employment numbers, according to data on the European Green Deal released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.

Cyprus consistently remains above the EU average in that same time period, with the exception of 2013.

In 2020 – the latest year for which this data is available – each employed person in the EU produced 13.6 tonnes of GHG emissions, the lowest value on record and 4.4 tonnes less than in 2010, when the output per person was at 18.0 tonnes.

The GHG intensity of employment measures the greenhouse gases emitted by the entire national economy per person employed.

In 2020, Cyprus emitted 15.6 tonnes per person employed. Cyprus has been consistently over the EU average since 2008, when the emissions per person were at 21.7 tonnes (18.8 tonnes in the EU).

Over the next few years, the GHG intensity of employment in Cyprus was closer to the EU average (17.6 tonnes in 2012 compared to 17.4 on average in the EU) and was lower than the average in 2013 (16.9 tonnes in Cyprus compared with 17.0 tonnes in the EU).

In the following years, leading up to and including 2013, the figure returned to above the EU average.

As for the rest of the EU member states, in 2020 Denmark emitted the most GHG per person employed at 24.7 tonnes, followed by Ireland at 23.2 tonnes and Poland at 20.9 tonnes.

The lowest emitters were Sweden (8.1 tonnes) and Malta (7.2 tonnes).