Stats NZ's most up-to-date quarterly greenhouse gas emissions statistics are now available following today's publication of both the March and June 2023 quarters.
The release of an additional quarter means emissions statistics are now published four months after the reference period. Previously, the releases were up to seven months after the period reported on.
"Quarterly insights about greenhouse gas emissions are now available much earlier than before and this will benefit both decision makers and anyone interested in Aotearoa's environment," Stats NZ's general manager of economic and environment insights Jason Attewell said.
"Stats NZ is one of the leading agencies in the world when it comes to quarterly greenhouse gas emissions statistics. This improvement means that we will have information about emissions just one month after we release data about economic activity, in the form of gross domestic product," Attewell said.
Quarterly emissions statistics are compiled using the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework, which are designed to be comparable with other macroeconomic statistics. SEEA statistics complement the annual Greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2021 snapshot published by the Ministry for the Environment.
Stats NZ has also extended the historical quarterly emissions time series by adding a further four years of data, covering March 2010 through to December 2013.
"The extra data allows changes in New Zealand's industry and household emissions to be seen over a longer time period," Attewell said.
These new figures reveal that total industry emissions have fallen by 8.3 percent from their March 2010 level and are now marginally higher than their time-series low point of December 2022. Over the same period, gross domestic product (GDP) has increased by more than 40 percent.
| Quarter | Emissions | GDP |
| Mar-10 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Jun-10 | 1006 | 1007 |
| Sep-10 | 999 | 1004 |
| Dec-10 | 1004 | 999 |
| Mar-11 | 998 | 1010 |
| Jun-11 | 975 | 1014 |
| Sep-11 | 1010 | 1025 |
| Dec-11 | 1007 | 1031 |
| Mar-12 | 1017 | 1037 |
| Jun-12 | 1057 | 1042 |
| Sep-12 | 1025 | 1044 |
| Dec-12 | 1015 | 1059 |
| Mar-13 | 1011 | 1057 |
| Jun-13 | 1050 | 1069 |
| Sep-13 | 1014 | 1075 |
| Dec-13 | 1002 | 1079 |
| Mar-14 | 1017 | 1095 |
| Jun-14 | 1013 | 1099 |
| Sep-14 | 1027 | 1114 |
| Dec-14 | 1049 | 1131 |
| Mar-15 | 1035 | 1136 |
| Jun-15 | 1009 | 1145 |
| Sep-15 | 1015 | 1156 |
| Dec-15 | 1021 | 1168 |
| Mar-16 | 1002 | 1181 |
| Jun-16 | 993 | 1192 |
| Sep-16 | 997 | 1203 |
| Dec-16 | 976 | 1207 |
| Mar-17 | 985 | 1220 |
| Jun-17 | 1012 | 1232 |
| Sep-17 | 1019 | 1242 |
| Dec-17 | 1027 | 1254 |
| Mar-18 | 1006 | 1265 |
| Jun-18 | 1007 | 1279 |
| Sep-18 | 1023 | 1280 |
| Dec-18 | 1037 | 1299 |
| Mar-19 | 1051 | 1309 |
| Jun-19 | 1034 | 1314 |
| Sep-19 | 1028 | 1324 |
| Dec-19 | 1028 | 1334 |
| Mar-20 | 1017 | 1322 |
| Jun-20 | 936 | 1184 |
| Sep-20 | 993 | 1347 |
| Dec-20 | 985 | 1347 |
| Mar-21 | 979 | 1378 |
| Jun-21 | 1011 | 1401 |
| Sep-21 | 942 | 1343 |
| Dec-21 | 939 | 1391 |
| Mar-22 | 944 | 1393 |
| Jun-22 | 943 | 1411 |
| Sep-22 | 927 | 1432 |
| Dec-22 | 915 | 1424 |
| Mar-23 | 916 | 1424 |
| Jun-23 | 917 | 1436 |
The divergence between GDP and industry emissions since 2010 is in large part due to growth in GDP of low emissions-intensive service activities, and of goods-producing industries (excluding manufacturing). The fall in emissions was driven by goods-producing industries and, to a lesser extent, primary industries. Household emissions have increased 12.1 percent since March 2010.
