Environment at a Glance Indicators

Reader’s guide

OECD work on environmental data and indicators

For more than four decades, the OECD has compiled and harmonised environmental data and statistics, developed internationally comparable indicators, and supported countries in strengthening their environmental information systems. This work has also contributed to the development of statistical and accounting standards.

The OECD’s work on environmental indicators is overseen by the Working Party on Environmental Information (WPEI) of the Environment Policy Committee (EPOC). It benefits from close co-operation with international partners, including the United Nations Statistics Division, the United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations regional offices, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Eurostat and the European Environment Agency.

This work implements the OECD Council Recommendation on Environmental Information and Reporting, which promotes the production and dissemination of reliable environmental data to inform policy analysis, decision-making and public awareness.

OECD environmental indicators are used to measure progress towards policy objectives, monitor performance and promote the integration of environmental considerations into sectors such as transport, energy and agriculture, as well as the economy at large. They also help track the green transition and progress towards sustainable development. Indicators are selected and developed based on their policy relevance, analytical soundness and measurability, drawing on the practical experience of OECD countries.

OECD environmental indicators follow the pressure-state-response (PSR) conceptual framework. The model describes the causal relationship between human activities, the pressures they exert on the environment, the resulting changes in environmental conditions (the "state") and the responses by society to prevent, reduce or mitigate negative impacts (the "societal response"). This feedback loop provides a coherent basis for analysing environmental trends and policy effectiveness.

The OECD Pressure-State-Response Model

Source: OECD.

Contributors

This report is an output of the OECD programme on environmental information, within the Environment Directorate. It is prepared by the Environmental Information and Indicators team in the Environmental Performance and Information Division, under the supervision of the Head of Division. It draws on the OECD’s longstanding expertise in economic and environment data, statistics, indicators and policy analysis. The report benefitted from contributions of Secretariat experts from the Finance, Investment and Global Relations Division of the Environment Directorate (ENV), the Statistics and Data Directorate (SDD), the Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate (STI), the Trade and Agriculture Directorate (TAD), the Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD), the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The OECD gratefully acknowledges the valuable contributions of national delegates of the Working Party on Environmental Information (WPEI) of the Environment Policy Committee (EPOC). Their expertise and active engagement are essential to ensuring the relevance and policy usefulness of OECD environmental indicators. The Secretariat also wishes to thank experts from environment ministries, environment agencies and statistical offices in member and partner countries for their support in preparing and updating the report.

Indicators in Environment at a Glance

Indicators presented in this report inform on key developments in domains such as climate change, biodiversity, water resources, ocean resources, air quality, circular economy and the green transition. The list of indicators included in each chapter is provided below.

Thematic chapters and indicators in Environment at a Glance

Chapter	Indicator groups	Indicators
Biological resources and biodiversity	Land use	Composition of land use types
		Agricultural area under organic farming
	Land cover	Land cover by type
		Loss and gain of natural and semi-natural vegetated land
		Growth of artificial surfaces
	Forest resources	Intensity of use of forest resources
		Naturally regenerated and planted forests
	Threatened species and protected areas	Share of threatened birds, mammals, reptiles, freshwater fish, amphibians and vascular plants, Number of marine fish species classified as threatened
		Protected areas by management categories
	Taxes relevant for biodiversity	Biodiversity-related policy instruments Biodiversity-related tax revenue
Circular economy - waste and materials	Waste management	Total waste generation
		Municipal waste generation and treatment operations
		Electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market
		Electrical and electronic equipment waste collected
		Plastic waste generation
		Ferrous-metal waste generation
	Use of material resources	Material consumption mix
		Material consumption intensity and productivity
		Material footprint intensity and productivity
	Taxes relevant for circular economy	Circular economy-related tax revenue
Freshwater resources	Water abstractions	Water stress
		Total water abstraction
		Water abstraction for public supply
		Water abstraction for irrigation
	Wastewater treatment	Public sewage treatment connection rates by type of treatment
	Taxes relevant for water resources	Freshwater-related tax revenue
Climate change	Greenhouse gas emissions	Levels
		By source
		Intensities
	GHG emissions footprint	GHG emissions by OECD and partner countries
		Production- and demand‑based GHG intensity and productivity, energy-related
	Energy use	Energy supply intensities
		Energy supply by source
		Electricity generation by source
	Impact and risks	Annual temperature change
		Projected annual surface air temperature across OECD and partner countries
		Population exposure to hot days
		Projected change in population exposure to extreme heat
		Historical cropland exposure to short-term drought
		Projected change in long-term drought on cropland
		Annual precipitation change
	Climate Actions and Policies	Composition of climate policy by instrument
		Policy adoption by instrument type
	Taxes relevant for climate change	Climate mitigation-related tax revenue
	Fossil fuel subsidies and other support measures	Fiscal cost of support for fossil fuels
	Net effective carbon rates	Total net effective carbon rates
	Official development assistance (ODA)	Bilateral ODA targeting climate change mitigation
		Bilateral ODA targeting climate change adaptation
Air quality	Pollutant emissions	Fine particulates (PM2.5) intensities
		Nitrogen oxide (NOx) intensities
		Sulphur oxide (SOx) intensities
	Air quality and health	Population exposure to fine particulates (PM2.5)
		Mortality from exposure to PM2.5
		Welfare cost of PM2.5 mortality
	Taxes relevant for air pollution abatement	Air pollution-related tax revenue
Green transition	Employment and education	Green-task jobs and GHG-intensive jobs
		Compulsory instruction time in natural sciences in primary and secondary education
		Research in environmental sciences and total research output
		Environmentally related scientific publications per capita
		Research on renewable energy, sustainability, and the environment
	Markets of goods and services	Innovation in environmentally related technology, by domain
		Relative advantage in environmentally related technologies
		Environmentally related inventions per person
		Innovation in renewable energy generation and fossil fuel energy supply technologies, total and per capita
		Green trademarks in total trademarks
		Trade in environmentally related goods, by type, region, as GDP-equivalent
		Imports and exports of environmentally related goods
		Green start-ups and their venture capital financing
	Finance and investment	Global private and public investment in the energy sector
		Total investment in energy technology and infrastructure by type
		Environmental protection expenditure
		Renewable and Fossil fuel energy investments in technology and infrastructure
		Green-labelled bonds by issuer type
		Cumulative issuance of green-labelled bonds
		ODA environmental markers in total sector-allocable ODA
		ODA by selected sectors in total sector-allocable ODA
		Net ODA as a percentage of gross national income
	Multifactor productivity	Pollution-adjusted GDP growth and GDP growth
		Produced capital, labour, natural capital, and environmentally adjusted multifactor productivity contributions to output growth
		Contribution of renewable and non-renewable natural capital to output growth
	Policies and regulations	Total environmentally related tax revenue by tax base, % total tax revenue, % GDP
		Environmentally related tax revenue and labour tax revenue
		Environmentally related tax revenue by economic and household activities
		Feed-in tariffs for electricity production from solar PV and wind
		Environmental taxes and (positive) subsidies by economic and household activities
		Environmentally related government R&D budget
		Energy technology public RD&D
		Fossil fuel energy public RD&D (excluding CCS)
		Bans or phase-outs on fossil fuel-related activities
		Mandatory energy-efficiency labels

Note: As of October 2026.

These indicators must be interpreted within a broader socio-economic context. Environmental sustainability cannot be pursued in isolation from issues like income inequality, energy poverty, inflation, unemployment and demographic pressures. The Green Transition database on the OECD Data Explorer includes complementary indicators on the socio-economic context, such as GDP structure, energy price volatility, tax systems, education, population dynamics, or trust in institutions.

Methodology and data sources

Methodology

Indicators are adjusted using deflators or other relevant denominators to enhance comparability across countries and over time. The choice of deflator depends on the variable’s unit of measurement and the analytical purpose. Many indicators are expressed per capita or per unit of GDP. Population data are based on the UN Population Prospects and include all residents living in a country for one year or more, regardless of citizenship. Unless otherwise noted, monetary values are reported in USD constant 2020 prices and purchasing power parities (PPPs).

Indicators are presented at the country level and, where possible, compared with the OECD average or other country group averages. Group averages are weighted unless specified otherwise. Country groups and aggregates used in this report include:

• OECD (38): OECD America + OECD Asia-Oceania + OECD Europe

• OECD America (6): Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States

• OECD Asia-Oceania (5): Australia, Israel, Japan, Korea and New Zealand

• OECD Europe (27): Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom

• OECD Key Partners (5): Brazil, China (People's Republic of), India, Indonesia and South Africa

• OECD Accession candidate countries (8): Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Indonesia, Peru, Romania, Thailand

• OECD Partners (12): OECD Key Partners + OECD Accession candidate countries

See the country list available here.

Coverage

The report covers OECD member countries over the past three decades. The chapters on climate change and green transition also include available information on OECD Key Partners and OECD accession candidate countries.

Comparability

Country-level indicators may conceal significant subnational variation, particularly in large countries where environmental pressures often have strong local impacts. Differences may also arise between OECD indicators and national data, as definitions, measurement methods, and adherence to international guidelines can vary. This can hinder international comparability and benchmarking. In some cases, countries could even report different data to different international organisations.

Uncertainty in data sources and measurement approaches can further complicate interpretation. Differences between values are not always statistically significant, and rankings may be misleading where results cluster within a narrow range.

Environmental pressures and socio-economic structures often change only gradually. Delays can occur between the measurement and production of national data and its transmission to international organisations, with further lags introduced through validation and processing prior to publication. Policy interventions and behavioural changes may therefore take time to translate into measurable outcomes.

Timeliness

Datasets are typically updated once or twice per year, while the text accompanying the graphics is updated twice per year. Consequently, the narrative may not directly correspond to the latest data available. The cut-off date indicated in each chapter specifies the dataset version that was used for the accompanying analysis and online report.

Data sources

The indicators in this report draw on the OECD Set of Environmental Indicators, a tool to evaluate countries’ environmental performance and track progress towards sustainable development. The set builds primarily on data received from Member countries through the OECD State of the Environment questionnaire, complemented by data from other OECD databases and international sources.

The OECD State of the Environment questionnaire aims to collect the best available environmental data from member countries and to promote international harmonisation of these data. It covers major environmental domains such as air, inland waters, land, forests, wildlife, marine environment, noise, waste, environmental protection expenditure accounts and environmentally related tax revenue accounts.

The questionnaire has been revised several times to reflect recent developments at international and the EU levels, ensure consistency in definitions and minimise duplication of efforts at international level. Initially developed by the OECD and used jointly with Eurostat, the current version focuses on domains not covered by other international data collections (e.g. UN conventions).

The questionnaire also benefits from close co-operation with the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) that jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) uses a simplified version of the waste and water section of the questionnaire to collect data from non-OECD countries, thus ensuring a global coverage. In the field of waste, data tables on hazardous waste are aligned with the classification used by the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.

The main objective of the questionnaire is to provide a solid and comparable factual basis for international work on environmental issues. It also serves as a reference framework for the development of environmental information systems in individual countries.

Underlying data can be consulted on the OECD Data Explorer.

Complementary dashboards

The Environment at a Glance Dashboard offers interactive access to the latest OECD country data across key environmental themes, enabling users to explore and download data and graphics on biodiversity, circular economy, water resources, climate change, air quality and the green transition.

Navigate the report and interactive graphics

Environment at a Glance Indicators provides real-time, interactive online access to the most up-to-date comparable OECD country data on the environment. The digital report allows users to explore, customise, download and share data and graphics easily.

Figures draw data directly from the OECD Data Explorer and are therefore updated at the same time as the underlying datasets. Interactive legends allow users to include or exclude categories. Notes and sources are displayed at the bottom of figures, while definitions and additional details can be accessed via the information icon in the top-right corner. To enhance readability, some figures show notes and sources only within this information bubble. Data and images can be downloaded using the button in the top-right corner of each figure.

Interactive graphic features

Source: OECD.

Each thematic chapter follows a common structure: following a brief context introducing the topic, the discussion focuses on presentation and analysis of indicators, including key messages, main trends and recent developments, data visualisations, and information on the comparability and interpretation of indicators. Each chapter concludes with a glossary, data sources and references. The green transition chapter is cross-cutting and addresses the policy context for each group of indicators.

Country notes present key environmental indicators along with selected socio-economic indicators to facilitate interpretation. These notes highlight each country’s progress in areas such as climate change, air quality, waste and the circular economy, water management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental policy instruments.