Emissions to air by the Dutch economy; national accounts

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Dutch economy Greenhouse gases (climate change) N2O (mln kgs) Greenhouse gases (climate change) CH4 (mln kgs) Greenhouse gases (climate change) Greenhouse gas equivalents (x mln) (Other) air pollution CO (mln kgs) (Other) air pollution NMVOC (mln kgs) (Other) air pollution PM10 (mln kgs)
Other private households 0.3 11.4 14,977 66.0 57.2 6.6
13-15 Man. of textile-, leatherproducts 0.0 0.0 114 0.4 0.4 0.1
31-33 Other manufacturing and repair 0.0 0.1 448 5.8 1.0 0.1
M Other specialised business services 0.0 0.1 716 1.8 1.3 0.1
N Renting and other business support 0.1 0.3 2,678 17.8 2.4 0.3
R-U Culture, recreation, other services 0.0 0.2 758 0.7 0.9 0.1
S Other service activities 0.0 0.1 363 0.5 0.7 0.0
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table presents the air emission accounts, as a part of the annual environmental accounts compiled by Statistics Netherlands.
The air emission accounts describe the emissions of air pollutants and gases as a result of Dutch economic activities. This is including the emissions of residents abroad and excluding emissions of non-residents in the Netherlands. The emissions of the substances are allocated to the various economic activities. Emissions from natural sources are excluded as these emissions are not related to economic activities. In this table, the emission of pollutants and gases from stationary sources (such as power plants) as well as mobile sources (such as road transport) are allocated to the different industries or households. Included are CO (carbon monoxide); Total CO2 (carbon dioxide); CO2 (carbon dioxide) excluding emissions from biomass; CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions from biomass; CH4 (methane);
N2O (nitrous oxide also known as laughing gas); NOx (nitrogen oxides (diversity)); SO2 (sulphur dioxide); NH3 (ammonia); PM10 (particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 micrometres); NMVOC (volatile organic compounds excluding methane (CH4)). The environmental accounts are compiled according to the concepts (such as the resident principle) and definitions of the national accounts, making it possible to quantify the environmental effects of the economic activities for the Netherlands in a consistent manner.

Data available from: 1990

Status of the figures:
Figures for the latest year are provisional. In order to obtain a consistent time series, the complete data set is (re)calculated every year.
The air emission accounts data are consistent in time and in compliance with the Dutch national accounts. The alignment between the environmental accounts and the national accounts however, takes place using a wide variety of sources. This means that, although every year the system required to perform the various calculations are similar and consistent, variation can occur due to changes in particular sources. As a result changes in emission factors from the emission inventory (pollutant release and transfer register, PRTR) and changing traffic and transport statistics affect the full time series of the air emission accounts. In order to obtain consistent time series, every year the entire time series are (re)calculated, enabling that latest insights in the data are captured.

Changes as of November 2025:
Data for 2024 have been added. Data for previous years are adjusted according to the revision policy (see: Status of the figures).

When will new figures be published?
New annual figures will be published in November.

Description topics

Greenhouse gases (climate change)
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere retain part of the solar heat that reaches the earth. The increased concentration of greenhouse gases means more heat is retained and the temperature of the earth's surface rises.
This is called the 'enhanced greenhouse effect'. The most important greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), laughing gas (N2O), HFCs, PFCs and SF6.
N2O
Laughing gas/dinitrogen oxide.
N2O is formed during various chemical conversion processes, among which during the warming up phase of catalytic converters, as a result of incomplete conversion of nitrogen oxides (NOx) into nitrogen (N2).
Greenhouse gas (causes the temperature of the earth's atmosphere to rise gradually).
CH4
Methane (= natural gas).
Among other causes CH4 is formed by incomplete combustion of fuels, leakage from the natural gas network, and by fermentation.
Greenhouse gas (causes the temperature of the earth's atmosphere to rise gradually).
Greenhouse gas equivalents
A measure of the degree to which a substance contributes to the greenhouse effect. A greenhouse gas equivalent equals the effect that the emission of 1 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) has, as a reference. The emission of 1 kg of methane (CH4) is equal to 25 greenhouse gas equivalents, and the emission of 1 kg of nitrous oxide gas (N2O) equal to 298 greenhouse gas equivalents.
The fluorine (chlorine) gases each have a high CO2 equivalent, but because the emitted quantities are relatively small, their contribution to the national total is small. The fluorine (chlorine) gases are only included in the total, but they are not specified.
(Other) air pollution
Besides acidifying substances, a number of other air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds and particulate matter, contribute to the environmental theme: 'Acidification and trans boundary air pollution'.
Included here are some individual air pollutants that are not classified and allocated to one of the other themes. These include the emissions of fine dust (PM10) and carbon monoxide (CO) into the air.
CO
Carbon monoxide.
CO is caused by incomplete combustion of fuels.
Toxic gas (detrimental to health).
NMVOC
Non-methane volatile organic compounds.
Among others caused by incomplete combustion of fuels and evaporation of fuels, cooling agents, inland vessel load residues, and other chemical substances. VOC emissions are also formed during various industrial processes.
Smog generating and sometimes carcinogenic.
PM10
Particulate matter (PM10 = particulates with diameter less than 10 micrometres). Among other causes, PM10 is formed during the combustion of diesel fuel, other fuels, various industrial processes, and wear processes like the wear of tyres, brake linings, road surface, and railway overhead contact lines.
PM10 is detrimental to health, penetrates deeply into the lungs.