Greenhouse gas emissions from the Swedish economy decreased in the second quarter of 2026

Definitions and explanations

What does the quarterly statistics show?

The quarterly statistics from Statistics Sweden’s environmental accounts present preliminary production-based air emissions from the Swedish economy, including households. Greenhouse gas emissions are expressed as the sum of individual gases measured in carbon dioxide equivalents.
Production-based emissions refer to emissions generated by Swedish economic actors. The statistics include emissions from Swedish companies and individuals, both within and outside Sweden’s borders. They follow the same system boundaries as national accounts, enabling calculations such as emissions intensity (emissions per unit of value added).

For the transport sector, emissions include those generated by transport companies domiciled in Sweden, regardless of where in the world they occur. Conversely, emissions from foreign operators are excluded. For example, emissions from foreign airlines operating to, from or within Sweden are not included.

In accordance with the Climate Convention, biogenic CO₂ emissions from the combustion of biofuels are reported separately from fossil CO₂ emissions. In the statistics on total greenhouse gas emissions from the Swedish economy, these biogenic emissions are excluded. This is because harvesting of biomass is accounted for in the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in Sweden’s international reporting. Including both would result in double counting; therefore, biogenic emissions are presented as a separate category.

When comparing quarters, users should be aware of seasonal variation. For example, emissions from electricity, gas and district heating, water, sewerage and waste are higher during colder months, whereas household consumption of diesel and petrol is higher during warmer months.

Greenhouse gases in CO₂ equivalents are calculated as an aggregate of CO₂ (fossil), CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs and SF₆, using Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors consistent with reporting under the UNFCCC[1].

[1] IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp, AR5 Synthesis Report - Climate Change 2014 (ipcc.ch).

Revisions
For air transport emissions, the OECD has not updated the statistics used to estimate these emissions. Pending the resumption of publication, data for the corresponding quarter of the previous year have been reused. 

For maritime transport emissions, starting with this publication, estimates are based on source data from the OECD, which compiles information on vessel movements collected through Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders.