EU’s green jobs up by 2.2 million over the last decade

Employment in the EU environmental economy increased from 3.6 million full-time equivalents in 2014 to 5.8 million in 2023 (+2.2 million), an average annual growth of 5.5%.

Compared with 2022, employment in this area grew by 4.2% in 2023, from 5.6 million full-time equivalents. 

Employment in the environmental economy includes environmental protection activities (e.g. waste and wastewater management and other environmental protection activities) and resource management activities (e.g. energy efficiency measures in construction, renewable energy production, and forest management).

This information comes from data on the European environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) accounts, published by Eurostat today. This article presents just a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

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Source dataset: env_egss_emp

In 2023, the EU’s environmental economy generated €1.33 billion in output, indicating a 4.3% increase from 2022. 

Since 2014, the output of the EU environmental economy has been growing steadily, with an average annual increase of 7.9% in output. Compared with 2014, it almost doubled its output value (€0.68 billion). 

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Source dataset: env_egss_mon

For more information

• Statistics explained article on the environmental economy – statistics on employment and growth
• Database on environment
• Thematic section on environment
• Environmental accounts dashboard