The gross output of the Environment Goods and Services Sector (Green Economy) was €8.8 billion in 2021 which was an increase of 9.2% on 2020 (See Table 1A).
Environment protection activities accounted for €3.7 billion (43%) of the Environment Goods and Services Sector gross output in 2021 (See Table 1A).
The gross output of Waste water management (€1.5 billion) and Waste management (€1.5 billion) were the main environment protection activities in 2021 (See Table 1A).
Resource management activities accounted for €5.1 billion (57%) of the Environment Goods and Services Sector gross output in 2021 (See Table 1A).
The gross output of Renewable energy production (€1.6 billion), Water (€1.4 billion), and Energy saving (€1.2 billion) were the main resource management activities in 2021 (See Table 1A).
Employment in the Environment Goods and Services Sector in 2021 was 40,300 full-time equivalents (See Table 2C).
Environment goods and services activities can be classified by their purpose. Regulation (EU) 691/2011 distinguishes two broad types of environmental activities according to their purpose:
| X-axis label | Environment protection | Resource management |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2.236 | 2.726 |
| 2013 | 2.402 | 2.92 |
| 2014 | 2.894 | 2.902 |
| 2015 | 2.892 | 3.204 |
| 2016 | 3.008 | 3.229 |
| 2017 | 3.172 | 3.674 |
| 2018 | 3.072 | 3.994 |
| 2019 | 3.509 | 4.649 |
| 2020 | 3.415 | 4.643 |
| 2021 | 3.742 | 5.055 |
| Agriculture | Manufacturing | Electricity and gas | Water and Waste water | Waste and Remediation | Construction | Services | |
| 2012 | 0.276 | 0.624 | 0.372 | 0.789 | 1.239 | 1.051 | 0.611 |
| 2013 | 0.293 | 0.693 | 0.381 | 0.934 | 1.299 | 1.096 | 0.627 |
| 2014 | 0.251 | 0.718 | 0.377 | 0.857 | 1.357 | 1.623 | 0.613 |
| 2015 | 0.205 | 0.82 | 0.56 | 0.911 | 1.282 | 1.611 | 0.707 |
| 2016 | 0.251 | 0.795 | 0.531 | 1.076 | 1.259 | 1.622 | 0.704 |
| 2017 | 0.304 | 0.834 | 0.684 | 1.276 | 1.418 | 1.658 | 0.673 |
| 2018 | 0.295 | 0.894 | 0.767 | 1.334 | 1.303 | 1.752 | 0.722 |
| 2019 | 0.43 | 0.854 | 0.948 | 1.611 | 1.43 | 2.174 | 0.711 |
| 2020 | 0.399 | 0.712 | 1.037 | 1.313 | 1.331 | 2.595 | 0.671 |
| 2021 | 0.377 | 0.926 | 0.907 | 1.674 | 1.605 | 2.483 | 0.827 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 April 2024) released Environment Goods and Services Sector 2021.
Commenting on the release, Dympna Corry, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "The gross output of the Environment Goods and Services Sector was €8.8 billion in 2021. As a percentage of national accounts output, gross output of the Environment Goods and Services Sector in 2021 was 1.1% (See Table 1A).
The gross value added (GVA) of the Environment Goods and Services Sector in 2021 was €3.9 billion (See Table 1B). Gross value added comprised 44% of the Environment Goods and Services Sector gross output in 2021.
Full-time equivalent employment in the Environment Goods and Services Sector was 40,300 in 2021 (See Table 1C). This was a 7.4% decrease on employment in 2020.
The gross output of the Industry sector was €7.6 billion in 2021 which accounted for 86% of gross output in the Environment Goods and Services Sector (See Table 2A). The Construction sector contributed €2.5 billion (28%) of gross output.
The Environment Goods and Services Sector gross value added by the Industry sector was €3.2 billion in 2021 (See Table 2B). The percentage share of GVA by the Industry sector was 83% in 2021.
Employment expressed in full-time equivalents in the Industry sector was 29,900 in 2021 (See Table 2C). The percentage share of employment by the Industry sector was 74% in 2021.”