Six sectors accounted for 78% of territorial greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, with Agriculture (38%) and Households (24%) being the two highest emitting sectors.
Agriculture accounted for 38% of emissions, 1% of Gross Value Added (GVA), and 4% of employment in 2023. The output of Agriculture is an important input for other NACE sectors, e.g. in 2021, 44% of the value of the output of the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector was used as input for the manufacture of food products.
In 2023, 41% of Household greenhouse gas emissions were from fossil fuels used for household heating, a further 41% were from fossil fuels used in private vehicles, and 17% were from electricity use (including electricity used for heating and transport).
Manufacture of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Minerals accounted for 6% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. Emissions from this sector increased by 52% between 2011 and 2023.
The Land Transport sector, which includes goods vehicles and passenger transport, accounted for 3% of emissions in 2023, with emissions from this sector falling by 30% between 2011 and 2023.
The Information & Communications sector made up 3% of emissions, 20% of GVA, and 6.5% of employment in 2023.
In 2023, greenhouse gas emissions from the Manufacture of Food, Beverages & Tobacco sector were 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions were 9% higher than in 2011, while GVA was 66% higher.
In 2023, total territorial greenhouse gas emissions were 5% lower than in 2011, while over the same time period the population rose by 15%, and modified gross national income (GNI*) in constant (2023) prices grew 55%.
The 2021 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act set national sectoral greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2030, based on 2018 emissions. This release uses economic, social, and environmental statistics on the highest emitting sectors to analyse whether greenhouse gas emissions have decoupled from economic activity or if potential economic and social impacts of reducing emissions towards the 2030 targets can be observed.
Where possible, the tables in this release cover the period 2011 to 2023. This period will be rolled forward one year with each new annual release. This means the CSO will be able to provide data and tables in a time series which will eventually cover the period 2018 to 2030 as set out in the Climate Action Plan.
The release contains more detailed analyses for the highest emitting sectors. For example, for the Agriculture sector we have used Supply and Use Table concepts to show how other NACE sectors depend on the output from Agriculture. The release also presents progress on indicators that are important in relation to achieving the Climate Action Plan targets. The transition to electric vehicles, the use of electricity for heating buildings; and the proportion of renewable energy used in the generation of electricity are three important indicators that are relevant to the emission reduction targets.
In line with the Eurostat Air Emissions Accounts module, emissions were assigned to the emitting production activity (NACE sector) or private household consumption activity. However, unlike Air Emissions Accounts, greenhouse gas emissions are on a territorial basis, and emissions from international aviation and water transport were not included; this ensures consistency with the Climate Action Plan targets. Finally, to fully capture the impacts of sectoral energy use, emissions from electricity generation were redistributed to the end user.
Economic activity and employment data are shown in this release for the highest emitting NACE sectors. Households as consumers had the second-highest emissions in 2023. As consumption activities do not contribute directly to GVA or employment in the same way as production activities, Households as consumers cannot be assigned a share of gross value added or employment. When Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is measured by expenditure, households make up a large share of the spend in the economy. For further information, see the Background Notes.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 November 2025) published Economic Trends in High-emitting Sectors 2023.
Commenting on the release, Clare O'Hara, Statistician in the Environment Division, said: "The CSO collects and receives a very broad range of data for statistical purposes. This release combines a selection of these data to show the progress that is being made on reducing greenhouse gas emissions towards the 2030 Climate Action Plan targets. Ireland's greenhouse gas emission targets and sectoral budgets are based on 2018 emissions, measured on a territorial basis. This release focuses on the six sectors with the highest territorial greenhouse gas emissions and examines economic and emissions trends in those sectors.
Highest Emitting Sectors
Six sectors accounted for 78% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. These were Agriculture (38%), Households (24%), Manufacture of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Minerals (6%), Land Transport (3%), Information & Communications (3%), and Manufacture of Food, Beverages & Tobacco (3%). Emissions from electricity generation were assigned to the end user in this release.
Economic Activity and Employment Analysis by NACE Sector
Of the six highest emitting sectors, the five NACE sectors (i.e. excluding households) accounted for 54% of emissions, 15% of employment, and 24% of GVA.
Agriculture accounted for 1% of GVA and 4% of employment in 2023. The output of agriculture is an important input for other NACE sector activities, in particular for the manufacture of food and beverages, and therefore contributes indirectly to output in these sectors. Between 2011 and 2023, GVA in the Agriculture sector almost doubled, while emissions rose by 11%.
Manufacture of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Minerals accounted for between 4% and 6% of emissions in each year between 2011 and 2023. Greenhouse gas emissions from this sector rose from 2.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2011 to 3.3 million in 2023, a 52% increase. Over the same time period, GVA rose by 53% and employment by 30%. In terms of interactions with other sectors, 58% of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Mineral products were used as inputs by the construction industry in 2021.
Land Transport greenhouse gas emissions fell by 30% between 2011 and 2023, while GVA at constant prices rose by 23%. Not included in this sector are emissions from the use of private cars by households and from the use of road vehicles by NACE sectors other than the road freight and passenger transport sector.
The Information & Communication sector made up 3% of emissions, 20% of GVA, and 6.5% of employment in 2023, with 97% of emissions in this sector coming from electricity consumption.
The Manufacture of Food, Beverages & Tobacco sector accounted for around 3% of emissions in each year between 2011 and 2023. In 2023, greenhouse gas emissions were 9% higher than in 2011, while GVA was 66% higher and employment was up 13%.
Household Energy Efficiency, Heating and Transport
Home heating was the source of around 41% of household greenhouse gas emissions, with a further 41% from the vehicles of private households, and another 17% from electricity consumption. Emissions from fossil fuels used to generate electricity were assigned to the final user of the electricity.
Renewable energy was the source of 39% of electricity generated in 2023, compared with 36% in 2021 and 37% in 2022. The share of renewable energy in electricity is relevant to household use of electricity for heating and transport. Electricity was the main heating fuel for 90% of dwellings built in 2020-2023, and for 22% of all dwellings that have had a Building Energy Rating audit conducted (See our Domestic Building Energy Ratings series of releases). In 2023, electric vehicles comprised 2.5% of licensed private cars."