Environmental Goods and Services Sector 2024
The environmental sector accounted for 3 percent of GDP in 2024
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-10-15 8.00
The environmental sector's share of GDP decreased in 2024 compared with the previous year. The electricity and heat supply industry made the largest contribution to the decline. In total, the environmental sector employed 131 000 people in 2024.
Statistics on the environmental goods and services sector describe the part of Sweden’s economy that produces environmentally friendly goods and services. The environmental sector includes the production of goods and services for environmental protection and sustainable resource management.
The environmental sector generated value added of SEK 195 billion in 2024. This represents a slight decrease compared with 2023, when the corresponding figure amounted to SEK 197 billion.
- The environmental sector declined in 2024, mainly as a result of lower production among companies in the electricity and heat supply industry, says Philip Krantz, economist at Statistics Sweden.
The production of environmental goods and services sector, measured as production value, decreased in 2024 and amounted to SEK 556 billion. The corresponding value in 2023 was SEK 569 billion. However, the environmental sector has represented an increasingly large share of gross domestic product (GDP) over time.
Since 2003, the environmental sector has grown faster than GDP
Manufacturing continues to account for a high share of exports
Manufacturing industry and mineral extraction accounted for the largest share of exports within the environmental sector, representing 45 percent of the sector's total exports. In contrast, the construction industry accounted for the largest share of both total output and employment in the environmental sector in 2024. The construction industry represented 36 percent of the production value and 20 percent of total employment.
Most of the environmental sector's exports came from manufacturing and mineral extraction
The size of the environmental sector varies across regions
Statistics on the environmental sector are also available at the regional level. The metropolitan regions contributed the most to total value added, output, and employment. However, when the value added of the environmental sector is measured as a share of gross regional product (GRDP), the share was lowest in the metropolitan regions in 2024. The environmental sector accounted for the largest shares in Jämtland, Dalarna, and Västernorrland.
Metropolitan regions had the lowest value added as a share of GRDP
Definitions and explanations
Statistics on the environmental sector form part of the environmental accounts framework. Since 2017, under the regulation on European environmental accounts, it is mandatory for EU Member States to report these statistics annually to Eurostat. However, Statistics Sweden has published statistics on dates earlier than this, where statistics are available as early as 2003. In addition to the national accounts data, data on company finances is used to describe net turnover, data from BAS (Population by Labour market status) to describe gainful employment, and data from foreign trade statistics to describe exports.
Statistics on the environmental sector are based on a micro-database of companies and workplaces that produce environmentally friendly goods and services. However, a model approach is used for the agriculture (A01), the forest (A02) and the construction (F41-43).
The statistics follow Eurostat’s environmental sector handbook, which contains definitions of which economic activities and products are included in the environmental sector. Examples of economic activity included are production of renewable energy, wastewater treatment, waste management, sanitation, environmental consultants, and organic farming.
To read more on definitions and delimitations, see Eurostat’s handbook:
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