Food Packaging — Emissions in European Union (27)

European Union (27): Food Packaging — Emissions was 21,555 kt in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
21,555 kt
Change on year
down 0.0%
Rank
8th
of 32 groups
All-time high
34,772 kt
in 1997
All-time low
21,110 kt
in 1990
Years of data
34
1990–2023

Food Packaging — Emissions in European Union (27), 1990–2023

010.0k20.0k30.0k1990200620231990: 21.1k kt1991: 28.4k kt1992: 29.0k kt1993: 30.1k kt1994: 29.5k kt1995: 32.1k kt1996: 33.0k kt1997: 34.8k kt1998: 31.8k kt1999: 31.7k kt2000: 33.1k kt2001: 33.5k kt2002: 33.8k kt2003: 33.9k kt2004: 33.3k kt2005: 33.2k kt2006: 32.5k kt2007: 33.8k kt2008: 31.1k kt2009: 26.8k kt2010: 27.7k kt2011: 26.8k kt2012: 25.4k kt2013: 24.4k kt2014: 23.9k kt2015: 24.3k kt2016: 24.2k kt2017: 24.4k kt2018: 23.8k kt2019: 22.3k kt2020: 21.3k kt2021: 23.5k kt2022: 21.6k kt2023: 21.6k kt

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in kt.

Analysis

In 2023, food packaging — emissions in European Union (27) stood at 21,555 kt.

That represents a change of down 11.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, food packaging — emissions in European Union (27) peaked at 34,772 kt in 1997 and was at its lowest, 21,110 kt, in 1990.

That places European Union (27) 8th out of 32 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.

Food Packaging — Emissions in European Union (27), year by year

Annual values for Food Packaging — Emissions (CO2) in European Union (27), 1990 to 2023.
Year kt Change
1990 21,110 kt —
1991 28,378 kt +34.4%
1992 28,970 kt +2.1%
1993 30,090 kt +3.9%
1994 29,521 kt -1.9%
1995 32,117 kt +8.8%
1996 33,018 kt +2.8%
1997 34,772 kt +5.3%
1998 31,776 kt -8.6%
1999 31,707 kt -0.2%
2000 33,135 kt +4.5%
2001 33,497 kt +1.1%
2002 33,768 kt +0.8%
2003 33,920 kt +0.5%
2004 33,293 kt -1.8%
2005 33,206 kt -0.3%
2006 32,474 kt -2.2%
2007 33,808 kt +4.1%
2008 31,099 kt -8.0%
2009 26,791 kt -13.9%
2010 27,718 kt +3.5%
2011 26,811 kt -3.3%
2012 25,388 kt -5.3%
2013 24,394 kt -3.9%
2014 23,896 kt -2.0%
2015 24,330 kt +1.8%
2016 24,231 kt -0.4%
2017 24,407 kt +0.7%
2018 23,805 kt -2.5%
2019 22,283 kt -6.4%
2020 21,345 kt -4.2%
2021 23,457 kt +9.9%
2022 21,555 kt -8.1%
2023 21,555 kt -0.0%

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Food Packaging — Emissions in European Union (27) changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1991 +34.4% 21,110 kt 28,378 kt

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 30,146 kt 21,110 kt 34,772 kt 10
2000s 32,499 kt 26,791 kt 33,920 kt 10
2010s 24,726 kt 22,283 kt 27,718 kt 10
2020s 21,978 kt 21,345 kt 23,457 kt 4

Countries ranked near European Union (27)

  1. 5 Japan 7,223 kt compare
  2. 6 Germany 5,271 kt compare
  3. 6 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 396.22 kt compare
  4. 7 Brazil 5,251 kt compare
  5. 7 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 193.8 kt compare
  6. 8 South Africa 4,499 kt compare
  7. 9 United Republic of Tanzania 103.35 kt compare
  8. 9 Australia and New Zealand 4,281 kt compare
  9. 10 Australia 4,158 kt compare
  10. 10 Melanesia 69.16 kt compare
  11. 11 India 3,664 kt compare
  12. 11 Republic of Moldova 31.87 kt compare

See the full ranking of 168 places →

More climate change data for European Union (27)

All data for European Union (27) →

Frequently asked questions

What is food packaging — emissions in European Union (27)?
Food packaging — emissions in European Union (27) was 21,555 kt in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest food packaging — emissions recorded in European Union (27)?
The highest recorded value was 34,772 kt in 1997.
What is the lowest food packaging — emissions recorded in European Union (27)?
The lowest recorded value was 21,110 kt in 1990.
How does European Union (27) rank for food packaging — emissions?
European Union (27) ranks 8th out of 32 groups with data for 2023.
Is food packaging — emissions rising or falling in European Union (27)?
Over the last ten years it is down 11.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this European Union (27) data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Food Packaging — Emissions (CO2). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Food Packaging — Emissions in European Union (27). Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/food-packaging-emissions-co2/european-union-27/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/food-packaging-emissions-co2/european-union-27/">Food Packaging — Emissions in European Union (27)</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Food Packaging — Emissions (CO2)
Unit
kt
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
168 places, 5,039 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT domain on Emissions from Pre- and post- agricultural production includes the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and related activity data, generated from pre- and post-agriculture production stages of the agri-food systems. Data are computed following the Tier 1 methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National greenhouse gas (GHG) Inventories (IPCC, 1996; 1997; 2000; 2002; 2006; 2014). The domain includes methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) emissions from the above activities as well as the aggregate fluorinated gases (F-gases) emissions. Estimates are available by country, with global coverage and are updated annually.The FAOSTAT domain disseminates information estimates of CH4, N2O, CO2 emissions, F-gases, their aggregates in CO2eq in units of kilotonnes (kt, or 10^6 kg), and the underlying activity data. CO2eq emissions are computed by using the IPCC Fifth Assessment report global warming potentials, AR5 (IPCC, 2014). Data are available for most countries and territories, for standard FAOSTAT regional aggregations, and for Annex I and non-Annex I country groups.