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Environment Goods and Services Sector 2019

Key Findings

Environment Goods and Services Gross Output was €6.6 billion in 2019

Online ISSN: 2737-7687

CSO statistical publication, 07 June 2022, 11am

Key Findings

Estimated gross output of environment goods and services was €6.6 billion in 2019, a decrease of 3.3% on 2018.
Environment protection activities accounted for €2.7 billion (41%) of total environment gross output in 2019.
Resource management activities accounted for €3.9 billion (59%) of gross output. The percent share related to resource management activities has increased since 2014 largely on foot of growth in renewable energy.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (7 June 2022) released Environment Goods and Services Sector 2019.

Commenting on the release Gerard Keogh, Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division, said: "Estimated gross output in environment goods and services were €5.6 billion in 2010, falling to €5.2 billion in 2012 and stood at €6.6 billion in 2019. As a percentage of national output (modified gross national income), estimated gross output in environment goods and services in 2019 was 3.1%.

Renewable energy production increased from €1.4 billion in 2017 to €2.1 billion in 2018 and then fell back to €1.6 billion in 2019 (see Table 1A). The increase in 2018 is attributed to a high level of accrued investment in renewable energy. Gross value added and (full-time equivalents) employment also showed large increases in 2018 in line with gross output.

Estimated environment goods and services gross output by the industry sector was €5.5 billion in 2019 (see Table 2A). The percentage share of gross output in environment goods and services by the industry sector was 84% in 2019. Construction accounted for €1.7 billion (31%) of output by the industry sector.

Estimated gross value added (GVA) in environment goods and services in 2019 was €3.2 billion (see Table 1B). As a percentage of environment goods and services gross output, GVA was 48% in 2019.

Estimated GVA by the industry sector was €2.5 billion in 2019 (see Table 2B). The percentage share of GVA by the industry sector was 79% in 2019.

Estimated (full-time equivalents) employment in environment goods and services was 37,400 in 2019 (see Table 1C). This was a 5.2% reduction on employment in 2018.

Estimated (full-time equivalents) employment by the industry sector was 27,800 in 2019 (see Table 2C)."

Environment goods and services sector activities can be classified according to their purpose. Regulation (EU) 691/2011 distinguishes two broad types of environment activities according to their purpose:

Environmental protection activities include all activities and actions which have as their main purpose the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution and of any other degradation of the environment, and
Resource management activities include the preservation, maintenance and enhancement of the stock of natural resources and therefore the safeguarding of those resources against depletion.

Graphs and Tables

X-axis label	Environment protection	Resource management
2010	2.35599253593844	3.21069768759544
2011	2.38970634820624	2.91712953402852
2012	2.27924997805039	2.95705176787496
2013	2.45376585010977	2.97423306286218
2014	2.56276315954922	2.65975810903939
2015	2.47978990866421	3.22023484081554
2016	2.57625265850365	3.19331266852341
2017	2.71240154675336	3.52573336757477
2018	2.50062378649569	4.32343063245612
2019	2.72185686573173	3.87943109754971

	Agriculture	Manufacturing	Electricity and gas	Water and Wastewater	Waste and Remediation	Construction	Services
2010	0.228813060642463	0.636282974221429	0.34179752212773	0.816277460382195	1.49683281615555	1.47445182707732	0.572234562927187
2011	0.261732386779118	0.634624141814543	0.363085850555323	0.801335586013029	1.6019015551629	1.07972246414609	0.564433897763753
2012	0.276080189189002	0.623894139173123	0.37164812240729	0.789108145163464	1.41360926362767	1.15085798862773	0.611103897737063
2013	0.292793783977511	0.692873034168683	0.380757313728105	0.93370926676	1.48168217555	1.1999556795863	0.627079903133288
2014	0.251413914951424	0.718004810605314	0.377439575723464	0.709387602840827	1.39292136927	1.16051209089316	0.61284190430442
2015	0.20527555035303	0.819928124068065	0.560284790605025	0.623495063466462	1.36249859684	1.42106280933038	0.70747981481679
2016	0.250516927695183	0.795002301240576	0.530527292630362	0.604347528328402	1.41884512579437	1.4660735739714	0.704252577366772
2017	0.303792692629149	0.833672539464396	0.683991316874383	0.50948986738	1.57883740103559	1.65542475528772	0.672926018656886
2018	0.295219996418776	0.893821198034057	0.766789956131418	0.50222470952	1.36682122266411	2.27751965084555	0.72165518933791
2019	0.354076103247788	0.907704961715472	0.94845575151241	0.52400121126	1.42942156887	1.70925648170356	0.728371884972208

Table 1A Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Output by Detailed Environment Activity, 2010-2019

Table 1B Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Value Added (GVA) by Detailed Environment Activity, 2010-2019

Table 1C Environment Goods and Services Sector Employment by Detailed Environment Activity, 2010-2019

Table 2A Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Output by Broad Environment Activity and NACE Sector, 2010-2019

Table 2A Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Output by Broad Environment Activity and NACE Sector, 2010-2019
€m
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total	5,567	5,307	5,236	5,609	5,223	5,700	5,770	6,238	6,824	6,601
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	229	262	276	293	251	205	251	304	295	354
Industry (05-43)	4,766	4,481	4,349	4,689	4,358	4,787	4,815	5,261	5,807	5,519
Manufacturing (05-33)	636	635	624	693	718	820	795	834	894	908
Electricity and gas (35)	342	363	372	381	377	560	531	684	767	948
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	816	801	789	934	709	623	604	509	502	524
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	1,497	1,602	1,414	1,482	1,393	1,362	1,419	1,579	1,367	1,429
Construction (41-43)	1,474	1,080	1,151	1,200	1,161	1,421	1,466	1,655	2,278	1,709
Services (45-96)	572	564	611	627	613	707	704	673	722	728

Environment protection	2,356	2,390	2,279	2,454	2,563	2,480	2,576	2,712	2,501	2,722
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	227	259	274	290	247	202	244	303	294	354
Industry (05-43)	1,959	1,962	1,823	1,976	2,090	2,025	2,051	2,161	2,008	2,158
Manufacturing (05-33)	136	136	133	148	156	180	178	179	199	217
Electricity and gas (35)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	445	437	430	509	384	308	301	262	255	251
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	1,127	1,206	1,064	1,115	1,217	1,220	1,290	1,399	1,181	1,261
Construction (41-43)	251	184	196	204	332	316	282	321	374	429
Services (45-96)	171	168	182	187	226	253	281	248	198	210

Resource management	3,211	2,917	2,957	3,155	2,660	3,220	3,193	3,526	4,323	3,879
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	2	2	3	3	5	4	6	1	1	0
Industry (05-43)	2,807	2,519	2,526	2,713	2,269	2,762	2,764	3,100	3,799	3,361
Manufacturing (05-33)	500	499	491	545	562	640	617	655	695	690
Electricity and gas (35)	342	363	372	381	377	560	531	684	767	948
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	372	365	359	425	325	315	304	247	247	273
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	370	396	349	366	176	142	128	180	186	169
Construction (41-43)	1,224	896	955	996	828	1,105	1,184	1,334	1,904	1,280
Services (45-96)	401	396	429	440	386	454	423	425	524	519
- Not applicable

Open in Excel: Environment Goods and Services Sector 2019 Table 2A (XLS 14KB)

Table 2B Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Value Added (GVA) by Broad Environment Activity and NACE Sector, 2010-2019

Table 2C Environment Goods and Services Sector Employment by Broad Environment Activity and NACE Sector, 2010-2019

Go to Data

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Table 1C Environment Goods and Services Sector Employment by Detailed Environment Activity, 2010-2019
'000 full-time equivalents
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total	34.3	32.0	30.1	32.8	31.0	33.1	32.5	37.5	39.4	37.4
Annual % change	-6.3%	-6.9%	-5.8%	8.8%	-5.3%	6.5%	-1.7%	15.4%	5.2%	-5.2%
% of Labour Force Employment	1.8%	1.7%	1.6%	1.7%	1.6%	1.6%	1.5%	1.7%	1.7%	1.7%

Environment protection	17.8	16.7	15.3	17.2	17.2	16.9	16.4	19.2	18.4	19.0
Wastewater management	2.6	2.2	2.1	2.4	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.3	2.2	2.5
Waste management	9.7	8.3	7.9	9.0	9.2	9.5	10.1	10.8	10.2	9.7
Soil and surface water protection	2.0	2.2	1.9	2.1	2.2	2.4	1.5	2.4	2.6	2.7
Other environment protection related activities	3.6	3.9	3.3	3.7	3.6	2.9	2.6	3.7	3.4	4.1

Resource management	16.5	15.3	14.8	15.6	13.8	16.1	16.1	18.3	21.0	18.4
Water	6.0	17.1	4.4	4.7	4.5	4.4	5.1	4.3	4.1	5.2
Renewable energy production	5.4	4.5	5.7	5.9	4.0	5.8	5.1	5.2	7.7	4.1
Energy saving	2.9	5.8	3.0	3.2	3.7	4.0	4.0	6.2	6.5	6.5
Scrap, recycling and minerals	0.9	3.1	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	1.0	0.7
Other resource management related activities	1.2	0.7	1.0	1.1	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.7	1.8	1.9

Table 2C Environment Goods and Services Sector Employment by Broad Environment Activity and NACE Sector, 2010-2019
'000 full-time equivalents
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total	34.3	32.0	30.1	32.8	31.0	33.1	32.5	37.5	39.4	37.4
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.2	3.9	3.3	2.3	3.3	2.9	3.2
Industry (05-43)	25.0	22.8	20.9	23.4	23.5	25.5	26.1	28.8	31.0	27.8
Manufacturing (05-33)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.5	4.0	3.5	3.5	2.9	2.9
Electricity and gas (35)	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.3	1.6
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	2.9	3.1	3.1	3.3	2.5	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.2	3.1
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	8.8	8.0	6.7	8.5	8.6	8.9	9.4	9.5	9.1	8.4
Construction (41-43)	12.5	11.0	10.4	10.9	8.2	9.2	9.7	11.9	15.5	11.9
Services (45-96)	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.2	3.7	4.3	4.1	5.4	5.5	6.4

Environment protection	17.8	16.7	15.3	17.2	17.2	16.9	16.4	19.2	18.4	19.0
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	4.1	4.0	4.1	4.2	3.8	3.2	2.3	3.3	2.9	3.2
Industry (05-43)	12.1	11.1	9.6	11.4	11.9	12.2	12.5	14.0	13.7	13.6
Manufacturing (05-33)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.6	0.7
Electricity and gas (35)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.9
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	8.2	7.4	6.2	7.8	7.9	8.2	8.7	8.8	8.4	7.9
Construction (41-43)	3.0	2.7	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.4	2.2	3.6	4.1	4.1
Services (45-96)	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.8	1.8	2.2

Resource management	16.5	15.3	14.8	15.5	13.8	16.1	16.1	18.3	21.0	18.4
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Industry (05-43)	12.9	11.8	11.3	12.0	11.5	13.3	13.6	14.8	17.3	14.2
Manufacturing (05-33)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.9	3.2	2.7	2.7	2.3	2.2
Electricity and gas (35)	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.3	1.6
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	1.9	2.1	2.2	2.4	1.8	1.8	1.9	2.0	1.6	2.2
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.5
Construction (41-43)	9.5	8.4	7.9	8.3	5.6	6.8	7.5	8.3	11.5	7.8
Services (45-96)	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.5	2.2	2.8	2.5	3.5	3.7	4.2
- Not applicable

Environment Goods and Services Sector 2019

Key Findings

Environment Goods and Services Gross Output was €6.6 billion in 2019

Key Findings

Statistician's Comment

Graphs and Tables

Contents

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Table 1B Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Value Added (GVA) by Detailed Environment Activity, 2010-2019
€m
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total	2,077	1,881	2,096	2,276	1,990	2,241	2,250	2,569	2,822	3,149
Annual % change	-0.2%	-9.4%	11.4%	8.6%	-12.6%	12.6%	0.4%	14.2%	9.9%	11.6%
% of gross output in environment goods and services	37%	35%	40%	42%	38%	39%	39%	41%	41%	48%

Environment protection	1,041	904	980	1,047	1,016	1,035	1,043	1,128	1,085	1,397
Wastewater management	287	239	265	284	291	244	235	243	248	319
Waste management	596	496	549	589	519	590	618	653	616	791
Soil and surface water protection	63	68	66	69	75	80	58	69	81	99
Other environment protection related activities	95	101	100	104	131	120	132	163	140	188

Resource management	1,036	977	1,115	1,229	974	1,206	1,206	1,441	1,738	1,752
Water	347	260	303	337	280	309	350	307	322	436
Renewable energy production	356	382	436	480	366	529	487	519	711	563
Energy saving	212	228	260	286	208	239	239	397	451	512
Scrap, recycling and minerals	46	34	40	44	64	67	62	86	109	88
Other resource management related activities	76	73	76	82	55	63	69	132	145	154

Table 2B Environment Goods and Services Sector Gross Value Added (GVA) by Broad Environment Activity and NACE Sector, 2010-2019
€m
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total	2,077	1,881	2,096	2,276	1,990	2,339	2,250	2,569	2,822	3,149
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	70	90	76	85	80	71	61	83	84	106
Industry (05-43)	1,660	1,447	1,667	1,823	1,634	1,962	1,859	2,052	2,298	2,499
Manufacturing (05-33)	218	241	237	236	229	267	235	270	311	296
Electricity and gas (35)	171	198	215	225	190	275	261	278	308	336
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	388	313	349	367	281	271	283	256	229	379
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	594	479	533	562	489	663	588	628	627	770
Construction (41-43)	289	216	333	432	445	486	492	621	824	718
Services (45-96)	347	344	353	369	276	306	329	434	440	544

Environment protection	1,041	904	980	1,047	1,016	1,035	1,043	1,128	1,085	1,397
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	69	89	75	84	79	69	57	82	84	106
Industry (05-43)	865	709	797	849	821	853	858	886	873	1,118
Manufacturing (05-33)	47	52	51	51	52	60	52	62	63	71
Electricity and gas (35)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	212	171	190	200	152	134	141	132	116	182
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	562	453	504	531	444	521	543	564	545	705
Construction (41-43)	44	33	51	66	173	139	122	128	149	161
Services (45-96)	107	106	109	114	117	112	129	160	127	173

Resource management	1,036	977	1,115	1,229	974	1,304	1,206	1,441	1,738	1,752
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)	1	1	1	1	2	2	5	1	0	0
Industry (05-43)	795	738	871	973	812	1,109	1,001	1,166	1,425	1,381
Manufacturing (05-33)	171	189	186	185	177	208	183	208	248	226
Electricity and gas (35)	171	198	215	225	190	275	261	278	308	336
Water and Wastewater (36-37)	177	143	159	167	129	137	142	124	113	197
Waste and Remediation (38-39)	32	26	29	31	45	142	45	63	82	66
Construction (41-43)	244	183	282	366	272	346	370	493	675	557
Services (45-96)	240	238	244	255	160	194	201	274	312	371
- Not applicable