Environmental Indicators Ireland 2024

4.1 Ireland: Greenhouse gas emissions 1990-2023

Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were 55 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023. This was down 6.8% from 59 million tonnes in 2022 and was 3.1% lower than the 1990-1994 average figure of 56.7 million tonnes.

4.2 EU: Greenhouse gas emissions 2022

Ireland ranked fifth worst out of 27 EU Member States in terms of its total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 with an index of 85.1 relative to the base year of 2005=100. Greece had the best performance with an index of 57.2 in 2022 relative to 100 in the base year of 2005, and Cyprus the worst at 95. This can be seen in Table 4.1.

4.3 EU: Greenhouse gas emissions per capita 2022

In 2022, Ireland had the second highest emissions of greenhouse gases per capita in the EU27 at 11.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per capita. Ireland’s emissions were 56% higher than the EU27 average of 7.5 tonnes. Luxembourg had the highest level of greenhouse gas emissions per capita in 2022 at 12.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, while Malta had the lowest rate of emissions in 2022 at 4.3 tonnes.

4.4 Ireland: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector 1990-2023

Agriculture was the sector with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland over the 1990-2023 period, accounting for 37.8% of the total CO₂ equivalent emitted in 2023. This was up slightly from 36.9% in the previous year and similar to the 1990-1994 average figure of 36.7%.

The transport share of greenhouse gas emissions increased slightly from 19.9% in 2022 to 21.4% in 2023. However, this share is more than double the 1990-1994 average of 9.8%.

The energy sector’s share of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 was the third largest sectoral contributor to emissions with 14.3% of the total. This compares with the 2022 share of 17% and the 1990-1994 average figure of 21.4%.

4.5 Ireland: Average annual temperature 1961-2023

The highest average annual temperature in Ireland from 1961 to 2023 period occurred in 2023 at 10.96° Celsius. Three of the top four warmest years in this period occurred since 2021. In contrast, the lowest occurred in 1986 when the average annual temperature was 8.2° Celsius.

4.6 Ireland: Average annual rainfall 1941-2023

The highest average annual rainfall in Ireland from 1941 to 2023 occurred in 2023, reaching 1,511 millimetres. As seen in Figure 4.5. In contrast, the lowest average was in 1971 which measured 912 millimetres.