Estonia spent nearly 715 million euros on environmental protection in 2022

According to Statistics Estonia, Estonia's environmental protection expenditure in real terms increased by nearly 37% in the period 2014-2022, that is, from 527 to 715 million euros. The environmental protection activity with the highest expenditure in 2022 was waste management with 347 million euros. The biggest environmental protection investments, worth 75 million euros, were made in wastewater management and protection of soil and water.

Environmental protection expenditure accounts reflect the measures and expenditures targeted at the prevention, reduction or elimination of pollution. National expenditure on environmental protection is calculated as a sum of current expenditure and capital expenditure (investments) on environmental protection activities, after deducting transfers from the rest of the world.

Kaia Oras, leading expert at Statistics Estonia, noted that nearly half of the environmental protection expenditure in 2022 was made up of expenditures on waste management (347 million euros). "Expenditure on waste management is steadily increasing, as it is a complex activity that has several stages: collection and transport, sorting, processing, safe disposal as well as constant monitoring and regulation. In previous years, waste management has also been the biggest expenditure category in environmental protection," explained Oras.

Other activities with significant expenditure were wastewater management and protection of soil and water with 201 million euros, and protection of biodiversity and landscapes with 49 million euros.

The share of environmental protection expenditure in the GDP is in decline

Environmental protection expenditure has shown significant growth at current prices, but the share of this expenditure in the gross domestic product (GDP) has decreased. In 2022, environmental protection expenditure represented 2% of the GDP, compared to 2.4% in 2014. Estonia has also dropped lower among European Union countries based on this indicator: Estonia was ranked fourth in 2018 but is now below the EU average.

Investments in environmental protection help to reduce pollution and its harmful effects in the long term

In 2022, there were 130 million euros' worth of investments in assets required for environmental protection or provision of environmental services (e.g. water treatment plants, waste management facilities, waste transport vehicles, and equipment and filters).

"Current expenditure on environmental protection activities is important because environmental protection needs constant upkeep. But gross fixed capital formation is also critical, as these investments help to ensure the sustainability of environmental protection measures and provide long-term gains, with a decreased need for current expenditure. Investments in new technologies and infrastructure can provide lasting solutions to environmental problems," said Oras.

Nearly half of the environmental protection investments in 2022 were made in wastewater management and protection of soil and water (75 million euros). Owners of wastewater facilities have built, developed and renovated sewerage systems and made other investments in fixed assets. 24 million euros were invested in waste management and 19 million euros in the protection of biodiversity and landscapes.

Foreign subsidies for environmental protection activities in Estonia amounted to 59 million euros

Together with transfers from the rest of the world, Estonia's environmental protection expenditure rose to 773 million euros.

In 2022, the greatest amount of foreign subsidies were received for wastewater management and protection of soil and water (25 million euros) - used to fund various sewerage projects, elimination of residual pollution, construction of manure storage facilities, and so on.

Foreign subsidies were also received for the protection of biodiversity and landscapes. Here, the funded projects included the maintenance of semi-natural communities and improving the situation of protected species and habitats. Nevertheless, transfers from the rest of the world represent just about 10% of Estonia's contribution to environmental protection.

Environmental protection expenditure accounts are prepared in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts. The regulation ensures the comparability and consistency of national data.

When analysing environmental protection expenditure data, it should be remembered that the environmental protection expenditure accounts exclude any activities related to resource management (such as energy production from renewable sources, energy efficiency, forest management) and the expenditures associated with these activities are not included in national environmental protection expenditure. For more information about the value added and employment in the environmental goods and services sector, see the news release
"Share of environmental goods and services sector in GDP up by a quarter in eight years".

See also the dedicated section on environmental protection fundingon our website and compare international data. More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.

When using Statistics Estonia's data and graphs, please indicate the source.

For further information:

Susann Kivi
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9105
press[at] stat.ee(press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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