Employment in the EU’s green economy has risen by an average of 6% a year since 2014, reaching 5.8 million full-time equivalent jobs in 2023.
The data covers employment in the EU’s environmental goods and services sector — activities linked to protecting the environment or managing natural resources — measured in full-time equivalents, which convert part-time and full-time work into a common unit, Eurostat informed in a release on Thursday.
Construction accounted for the largest increase in green employment over the period, rising from 0.7 million full-time equivalents in 2014 to 1.6 million in 2023.
Eurostat described this category as including work such as building energy-efficient homes, constructing renewable energy plants and refurbishing buildings to improve energy performance.
Green employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing stood at 0.7 million full-time equivalents in 2023, and grew by an average of 5% a year between 2014 and 2023.
Green manufacturing rose from 0.7 million full-time equivalents in 2014 to 1.0 million in 2023 — also an average annual growth rate of 5%.
Renewable energy jobs nearly doubled since 2014
Measured by environmental purpose, jobs linked to energy from renewable sources saw the fastest growth between 2014 and 2023, rising from 0.4 million to 0.8 million full-time equivalents — an increase of 79% — Eurostat said.
Employment related to protecting soil, surface water and groundwater increased from 0.4 million to 0.7 million over the same period, up 60%.
Jobs in wastewater management grew by 38% to reach 0.5 million full-time equivalents, while employment in waste management increased by 30%.
Waste management was the largest single employment area in 2023, with 0.9 million full-time equivalents, representing 16% of total environmental employment.
