Important Environmental Indicators

The following overview shows the key environmental indicators of the German Environment Agency. These indicators are particularly relevant for German and international environmental policy. Click on the images to view the indicators.

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Climate

A graph shows the trend in greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, which fell from 1,249 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 1990 to 810 million tonnes in 2019. The bars are divided into different sectors. The graph shows all target values up to 2050.
 Greenhouse gas emissions
A graph shows the deviation of the global air temperature between 1850 and 2020 from the average global air temperature from 1850 to 1900, which is taken as the baseline period. 2020 was 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than the baseline average.
 Global surface temperature
A graph shows the number of hot days in the areal mean for 1951 to 2020. Although the trend varies greatly, the increase is clearly visible. A trend line has also been plotted on the graph which shows a significant rise.
 Hot days
A graph shows the trend for greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of renewables for power, heat and transport. 27.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents were avoided in 1990, and 201.4 million tonnes in 2019.
 Greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of renewables

Energy

A graph shows primary energy consumption (PEC) between 1990 and 2020 as well as target values for 2020, 2030 and 2050. Until 2008, the value fluctuated around 14,500 Petajoules, but has since fallen considerably.
 Primary energy consumption
A graph shows the building-related final energy consumption for room heating, room cooling, hot water and lighting for 2008 to 2018. The indicator decreases with fluctuation. No differentiation is shown between the individual uses.
 Energy consumption for buildings
A graph shows final energy productivity from 1990 to 2019. It has been rising by 60 percent since 1990. Final energy consumption and gross domestic product are also shown.
 Final energy productivity
A graph shows the share of renewable energies in gross final energy A graph shows the share of renewable energies in gross final energy consumption and gross electricity consumption. The share in gross electricity consumption rose from 6.3 percent in 2000 to 42.0 percent in 2019. The and gross electricity consumption. The share in gross electricity consumption rose from 6.3 percent in 2000 to 42.1 percent in 2019. The share in gross final energy consumption rose from 6.2 to 17.1 percent from 2004 to 2019.
Renewable energy
A graph shows the development of CHP net power generation from 2003 (78 terawatt hours) to 2018 (115 terawatt hours) and the targets for 2020 and 2025 according to the CHP Act.
 Combined heat and power (CHP)

Air

A graph shows the trend in emissions of five air pollutants and an overall index relative to the 2005 baseline year and between 1995 and 2019. All emissions fall. The graph indicates the targets for 2020 and 2030.
 Emission of air pollutants
A graph shows how strongly, on average, urban background levels of three main air pollutants in German agglomerations exceeded World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations between 2000 and 2019. The trend for the different pollutants varies. Between 2000 and 2019, the values for nitrogen dioxide were between 35.9 and -7.7 percent, for ozone between 71.0 and 73,5 percent and for particulate matter (PM2.5) between 77.3 and 4.1 percent.
 Air quality in agglomerations
A diagram shows in chronological order from 2010 to 2018 the number of people in Germany affected by exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value for particulate matter (PM2.5). The exposure decreased significantly between 2010 and 2018. However, it should be noted that measuring stations located in conurbations with high traffic volumes were not included in the calculation.
 Population exposure to particulate matter pollution

Land, soil, terrestrial ecosystems

A graph in the form of a bar chart shows how many hectares of land per day in Germany were newly designated for settlements and transport infrastructure between 1993 and 2018. The chart also shows the four-year average.
 Land-take for settlements and transport infrastructure
A graph shows the undissected low-traffic areas with a minimum size of 100 km² as a percentage of Germany’s total land area for 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 and the target value. Due to differences in methodology, the values are not directly comparable.
 Landscape dissection
A graph shows the proportion of vulnerable ecosystems in Germany where the critical loads for eutrophication were exceeded between 2005 and 2015 and the target for 2030. In 2005, the share was 77 % and in 2015, it was 68 %.
 Nitrogen eutrophication
A graph shows the development of the population of representative bird species for different landscapes and the development of an aggregate indicator from 1970 to 2016 The aggregate indicator decreases significantly from 107 in 1970 to 71 in 2016.
 Species diversity and landscape quality

Water

A graph shows the distribution of the environmental status and potential of the rivers for the years 2010 and 2015. The target for 2027 is also shown (100 percent ‘good’ or ‘very good’). In 2015, 6.7 percent showed at least a good status or good potential.
 Ecological status of rivers
A graph shows the distribution of the environmental status and potential of the lakes for the years 2010 and 2015. The target for 2027 is also shown (100 percent ‘good’ or ‘very good’). In 2015, 26.4 percent showed at least a good status or good potential.
 Ecological status of lakes
A graph shows the distribution of the environmental status of the North and Baltic Seas for the years 2010 and 2015. The target for 2027 is also shown (100 percent ‘good’ or ‘very good’).
 Ecological status of transitional and coastal waters
A graph shows the proportion of groundwater sampling sites where nitrate measurements for the years 2008 to 2019 were above 25 and 50 milligrammes per litre. In the period covered, neither sub-indicator has shown any significant change.
 Nitrate in groundwater
A graph shows the distribution of total phosphorous quality classes (QC) II-III and below for 1982 to 2018 for measuring sites exceeding the requirement for good status. The share of higher exceedance (QC IV) has dropped markedly, that of lower exceedance (II-III) has risen sharply.
 River eutrophication by phosphorus
A graph shows the change in concentration of total nitrogen in all the main rivers which enter the North Sea and Baltic Sea in Germany. A distinction is made between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The concentration value is given as the moving average of the flows of the past 5 years in milligrams per litre.
 Eutrophication of the North and Baltic Seas by nitrogen
A graph shows the 5-year averages for 2003 to 2017 of the proportion of fulmars with stomachs containing over 0.1 grammes of plastic. The indicator remains at around 60 percent.
 Plastic waste in the North Sea
A graph shows the water exploitation index for the years 1991 to 2016. Values are available for every three or four years. The index fell almost constantly and has been below the critical value of 20 percent since 2004.
 Using water resources
A graph shows good and sufficient bathing water quality levels for coastal and inland waters (1992 to 2019). There was a particularly strong improvement in quality in the 1990s. The 2015 target has almost been met.
 Bathing water quality

Resource Conservation

A graph shows the total raw material productivity plus the primary raw material inputs and the sum of gross domestic product and the value imports from 2000 to 2016 (2000 = 100).
Total raw material productivity
A graph shows the primary raw material consumption per capita for 2000 to 2016. It is divided according to different types of materials. Raw material consumption dropped over the long-term but hasn’t shown a clear direction in recent years.
 Raw material consumption
A graph shows the amount of municipal waste from 2002 to 2018. During this period the amount fell from 52.8 million tonnes to 50.3 million tonnes.
 Amount of waste – municipal waste
A graph shows the proportions of processed and recycled municipal waste in the total quantity of municipal waste from 2002 to 2018. During this period the proportion of recycled municipal waste rose from 56.1 to 67.1 percent.
 Recycling municipal waste

Transport

A graph shows the proportion of people exposed to traffic noise above 55 decibels during the day and above 50 decibels at night, as observed in the 2012 and 2017 noise mappings. It differentiates between road, aircraft and rail traffic noise.
 Population exposure to traffic noise
A graph shows the final energy consumption in freight and passenger transport between 1991 and 2018 and the targets of the Federal Government (2005 = 100) presented as an index.
 Final energy consumption of transport
A graph shows the shares of rail and inland shipping in freight transport volume between 1999 and 2019. The share of rail transport first increased and then began to stagnate, while the share of inland shipping declined.
 Environmentally friendly freight transport
A graph shows the share of pedestrian, utility cycling, railway and passenger transport services in the overall passenger transport volume. Shown here are the years between 2003 and 2018. There has been one change in method in this period.
 Environmentally friendly passenger transport

Agriculture and forestry

A graph shows the agricultural nitrogen surpluses for individual years and as rolling 5-year means between 1990 and 2018. The 5-year-mean nitrogen surpluses in kilogrammes per hectare dropped from 116 to 93. The target for 2030 is 70 kilogrammes per hectare and year.
 Agricultural nitrogen surplus
A graph shows the area of the permanent grassland as absolute value and as share of the total agricultural area from 1991 to 2019. Both indicators have been steadily declining until 2013 and have since then risen slowly.
 Grasslands
A graph shows the increase of the share of organic farming areas in total utilised agricultural area based on data of the German Federal Statistical Office and the FMFA. It also shows the 20 percent target of the Federal Government.
 Organic farming
A graph shows the percentage of woodland certified under the PEFC or FSC sustainability standards from 2000 to 2019. In 2019, the PEFC covered 69.1 percent and the FSC 13.2 percent. The graph also shows the target for 2010.
 Sustainable forestry
A graph shows the proportion of the forested area made up of mixed stands (2, 3 or 4 species of trees) and that of pure stands (semi-natural and non semi-natural). The proportion of mixed stands rose from almost 55 percent to almost 58 percent.
 Mixed forest

Private households and consumption

A graph shows the percentage of the population actively involved in environmental protection and nature conservation or who could imagine becoming involved. In 2006 the combined figure was 51 percent, in 2018 it was at 57 percent.
 Commitment to environmental protection
A graph shows the direct and indirect energy use and CO2 emissions of private households in 2000, 2005 and from 2007 to 2016. The energy use is divided into five areas of demand.
 Energy use and CO₂-emissions of the consumption
A graph shows the market shares of products with official eco-labelling. Between 2012 and 2016 this figure rose from 3.6 percent to 8.6 percent. This was a decline of 0.3 percent on the year before. The target for 2030 is 34 % market share.
 Environmentally friendly consumption
A graph shows the national welfare index (NWI) and gross domestic product (2000 = 100) for the years between 1991 and 2018. Since 2000, the NWI fell by 1.2 percent, while GDP rose by 26.3 percent.
 National Welfare Index

Environment and economy

A graph shows the trend for primary energy consumption in the manufacturing industry and the proportion of gross value-added (price-adjusted) between 1995 and 2017. In 1995, energy consumption amounted to 3,744 Petajoules, and in 2017, to 4,066 Petajoules.
 Energy consumption in manufacturing
A graph shows greenhouse gas emissions and gross value-added between 1995 and 2017. Greenhouse gas emissions fell from 238.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 1995 to 193.5 million tonnes in 2017. Gross value-added increased during that time.
 Greenhouse gas emissions in industry
A graph shows the value of environmental protection goods produced between 2009 and 2017 as well as the share of these goods in the overall industrial production.
 Environmental protection goods
A graph shows the development of environmental costs energy generation and road transport between 2014 and 2017. They were 215.8 billion euros in 2014 and 225.3 billion in 2017.
 Environmental costs of energy and road transport
A graph shows the employment in environmental protection and their share in the overall employment for 2002 until 2017 – in two-year-steps. The share was 6.4 percent in 2014, whereas it was only 3.7 percent in 2002.
 Employment in environmental protection
Between 2016 and 2018 there were sharp declines
 Employment in the renewable energy sector
A graph shows the development of environmental taxes for 1995 (40.2 billion euros) to 2019 (60.7 billion euros) and their share of total tax revenues in the public budgets.
 Taxes related to the environment
A graph shows the development of EMAS registered organisations in Germany between 2005 and 2020, sorted by number of organisations, sites and employees. The target of the Sustainability Strategy (5,000 sites by 2030) is also shown.
 Environmental management