Employment in the EU’s environmental economy rose from 3.6 million full-time equivalent jobs in 2014 to 5.8 million in 2023, up by 2.2 million.
The increase equated to average annual growth of 5.5% across the decade, Eurostat reported on Wednesday.
Employment grew by 4.2% in 2023 compared with 2022, rising from 5.6 million full-time equivalents.
Eurostat’s figures cover the EU’s environmental goods and services sector — economic activity linked to environmental protection and managing natural resources — and count jobs using “full-time equivalents”, a measure that converts part-time and full-time work into a common full-time total.
The environmental economy includes environmental protection work such as waste and wastewater management, and resource management activities such as energy-efficiency measures in construction, renewable energy production and forest management.
Output also increased in 2023
The EU’s environmental economy generated €1.33 billion in output in 2023, a 4.3% rise from 2022, according to Eurostat.
Output has grown by an average of 7.9% a year since 2014 and nearly doubled from €0.68 billion over the period.
