The European Union produced 224 million tonnes of chemicals and consumed 232 million tonnes in 2024, showing a decline of 15% in production and 18% in consumption compared with 2014.
However, both figures increased slightly compared with the previous year — with production rising by 6% and consumption by 5% — Eurostat reports.
Of the chemicals produced in the EU in 2024, 172 million tonnes were hazardous to health, down 16% since 2014.
Production of chemicals hazardous to the environment reached 66 million tonnes, an 11% decrease compared with a decade earlier.
The two hazard categories overlap, so some chemicals are counted in both groups.
Fall in hazardous chemical use
On the consumption side, the EU used 170 million tonnes of chemicals hazardous to health in 2024, a decrease of 22% over ten years.
Consumption of chemicals hazardous to the environment dropped by 32% to 53 million tonnes, according to Eurostat.
Altogether, the consumption of hazardous chemicals in the EU has declined by 47 million tonnes since 2014.
This reduction includes a drop of 18 million tonnes in the consumption of the most harmful substances, falling from 48 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes over the past decade.
