During the first quarter of the year, emissions decreased by 5 percent compared with the corresponding period in 2020, Statistics Sweden states in its latest statistics.

Emissions from the transport industry decreased the most, by 38 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with the corresponding quarter last year.

- It is above all emissions from aviation that have fallen sharply.

In the first quarter of 2020, a small impact could be seen, but the pandemic has proven to have a greater effect in the first quarter of 2021, says Nils Brown.

Increased emissions in the energy industry

In addition to the transport industry, reduced emissions can be seen in the construction industry, agriculture, forestry and fishing, service industries and the public sector.

- On the other hand, greenhouse gas emissions from the energy industry increased by almost 10 percent.

This also includes water, sewage and waste, says Nils Brown.

Despite an increase, emissions in the energy industry have generally declined in recent years.

- They are still smaller, by a fairly large margin, compared to, for example, 2019, says Nils Brown.

Sweden's GDP decreased

Statistics Sweden analyzes environmental statistics compared with economic statistics.

The starting point is the Swedish economy's environmental impact, regardless of where in the world it takes place.

Emissions from the Swedish economy fell sharply in 2020, especially after the pandemic broke out.

During the first quarter of 2021, the total greenhouse gas emissions from the Swedish economy landed at 12.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents.

Sweden's GDP decreased by just under one percent, which means that the so-called greenhouse gas intensity continues to have a reduced trend.

- This means that greenhouse gas emissions per krona produced in the economy are reduced, says Nils Brown.

One of the few countries in the world

Comparing Sweden's statistics with other countries is difficult.

- Sweden is one of the few countries in the world that keeps statistics quarterly.

Two other countries that also do this are the Netherlands and New Zealand, otherwise an annual statistic is most common, in order to report statistics to the UN.

The figures from Statistics Sweden are preliminary.

A final result for 2021 will be ready by the end of March 2023.