Emissions in the energy sector continued to decrease in 2023 – the land use sector was a significant source of emissions

Emissions fell from the previous year

According to preliminary data, total emissions in 2023 without the land use sector fell by 10 per cent from the previous year and were 43 per cent lower than in 1990. Total emissions do not include land-use sector emissions and removals, unless separately mentioned.

The energy sector was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Finland, accounting for 70 per cent (28.6 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent) of total emissions in 2023. The sector's emissions decreased by 13 per cent (4.3 million tonnes of CO₂ eq.) from the previous year. This was especially due to decreased use of hard coal and peat: emissions from hard coal combustion decreased by 2.1 million tonnes and emissions from peat combustion by 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent from the year before. This was mainly caused by the change in the structure of electricity production as the production of nuclear, hydro and wind power increased. More information on the development of energy consumption can be found in the review of the energy statistics released on 16 December 2024.

Emissions from the industrial processes and product use sector (incl. F-gases) amounted to 4.7 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2023, and they fell by five per cent from the year before mainly because of the decrease in cement production and the improvement of the production process of nitric acid.

Emissions in the agriculture sector amounted to 6.0 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. Emissions remained almost on level with the previous year, falling by one per cent. Emissions from the waste sector went down by five per cent from 2022 to 2023, being 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

Sector-specific emission data and Finland's emission reduction commitments are described in more detail in the review of 15 January 2025 (in Finnish).

Land use sector was a net emission source

The LULUCF sector, that is, the land use, land-use change and forestry sector, was a net emission source in 2023 (11.8 million tonnes of CO₂ eq.) as in the previous year. The sector's emissions exceeded the amount of carbon sequestration in different pools during the year.

In forest land, emissions also exceeded the amount of carbon sequestration in different pools, that is, forest land was a net emission source similarly as the other land use categories. Forest land has been a net emission source since 2021. Cropland was the largest net emission source in 2023 (8.7 million tonnes of CO₂ eq.). Harvested wood products were a net sink, where the accumulation of carbon exceeded emissions by 1.7 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. The sum of emissions and removals, or net emissions, in the land use sector in 2023 was 0.2 million tonnes lower than the sum of emissions and removals in the previous year.

According to the latest estimates, the land use sector as a whole has been a net emission source since 2018. The sector's transformation from a sink to an emission source has been influenced by many factors, the most important of which are increased fellings in recent years and the simultaneously observed reduction in the growing stock together with increased soil emissions.

More accurate data on the growing stock in the latest National Forest Inventory (NFI13) were taken into use in the calculation of forest land, based on which the accumulated carbon sequestration in the tree biomass fell clearly over the past ten years. More accurate data on the growing stock also had a lowering effect on the carbon accumulation in the soil, including forest litter. Further information about the results and calculation for the land use sector can be found in the review of this release (in Finnish) and in Luke's release (in Finnish and in Swedish).

Revisions of data

The data in this release are based on more detailed and exhaustive source data and methods than the instant preliminary data released in May 2024. Revisions of data are also described in the review of the statistics on 15 January 2025 (in Finnish).

Preliminary data according to this release will become revised in March in the reporting to the EU. The revised data will be published as a database release on 15 March 2025.

Greenhouse gas inventory

Statistics Finland is the national responsible unit of the greenhouse gas inventory. Statistics Finland guides the inventory work and compiles and submits the data to the UN and the European Commission. Statistics Finland, the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) (in Finnish) and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland participate in the production of the statistical data for the greenhouse gas inventory.