This publication [
143kB] provides details on the expenditure made in the European countries with the purpose of protecting the environment. Environmental protection expenditure (EPE) is the money spent on activities aimed at the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution or any other degradation of the environment.
EPE can be analysed looking at three main actors: the public sector, industry (mining and quarrying, manufacturing and electricity, gas and water supply) and specialised producers of environmental services (public and private enterprises specialised in producing environmental services).
Between 2002 and 2009, the EU-27 expenditure of specialised producers grew in value terms by 40%. There was a 27% increase in environmental protection expenditure made by the public sector, while the expenditure by industry was largely unchanged (having dipped during the early part of the decade when industrial activity was relatively weak, before increasing by 20% between 2004 and 2008).
As a percentage of GDP the total EPE of the three main sectors increased by 0.2% points in the same period and reached 2.25% in 2009. The total spending on environmental protection amounted to more than 260 billion EUR in 2009.
More Information
Data on ‘environmental protection expenditure’ Select ‘environmental accounts’
Eurostat Statistics Environment