Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Year Ended 2023

Greenhouse gas emissions statistics include the emissions by gas type for both industries and households, the emissions intensity (emissions in relation to GDP/economic output) for industries, and tourism-related emissions.

Industry and household emissions estimates use the latest New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory data from the Ministry for the Environment and show updated production-based gross emissions for the years ended December 2007 through to 2023, on a System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) basis.

Data for 116 industries from 2007 to 2023 is available as downloadable CSVs under Download data.

Key facts

Year ended December 2023

• Gross greenhouse gas emissions from New Zealand's industries and households were 78,778 kilotonnes (kt) of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is a fall of 0.8 percent (612 kt) from 2022.
• The fall was driven by a 1.0 percent decrease (720 kt) in industry-related emissions.
• Household emissions increased 1.3 percent (107 kt) due to an increase in household transport emissions.
• The largest changes to industry emissions were:
  • agriculture, down 2.0 percent (852 kt), driven mainly by sheep, beef cattle, and grain farming
  • electricity, gas, water, and waste services, down 8.5 percent (563 kt), driven by water, sewerage, drainage, and waste services manufacturing
  • manufacturing, down 3.2 percent (300 kt), driven mainly by petroleum, chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing
  • transport, postal and warehousing, up 25.7 percent (1,343 kt), driven by rail, water, air, and other transport.

• Emissions from industries were 89.6 percent of the total, with the remaining 10.4 percent from households.
• Emissions attributable to tourism in 2023 accounted for 5.7 percent of total emissions.

Comparing 2023 with 2007 (years ended December)

Total greenhouse gas emissions from industry and households were 8.6 percent (7,406 kt) lower than their 2007 level, which is the start of the time series.

• Industry-related emissions were down 9.5 percent (7,444 kt).
• Household emissions were up 0.5 percent (39 kt). The number of households in New Zealand has grown by 25.5 percent over the same 2007 to 2023 period.
• Industries with the largest reduction in emissions were electricity, gas, water, and waste services, down 42.5 percent (4,460 kt), driven by electricity and gas supply; and agriculture, forestry, and fishing, down 3.8 percent (1,715 kt).
• The construction industry had the largest increase in emissions, up 109.5 percent (1,052 kt).

Emissions intensity

An industry's emissions intensity is the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to value added (sometimes referred to as an industry's contribution to GDP). It can tell us how many emissions are produced per dollar added to the economy by the industry. If value added increases at a greater rate than emissions, emissions per unit of value added is less and the emissions intensity decreases.

Emission intensity ratios are a standardised measure for each industry and therefore can be used to compare across industries.

Comparing 2023 with 2022 (years ended December)

Between 2022 and 2023, emissions intensity for the total of all industries fell 2.8 percent. The largest changes to emissions intensity were:

• arts, recreation, and other services, down 22.7 percent
• education and training, and mining, down 15.6 and 15.0 percent respectively
• transport, postal, and warehousing, up 22.6 percent.

Gross emissions and GDP contributions in 2023 by broad industry group

Primary industries contributed the most greenhouse gas emissions (56.3 percent) to the 'all industry and households' total but had the smallest contribution to nominal gross domestic product (GDP) (5.3 percent). This group includes agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining.

Goods-producing industries contributed the second most to both emissions and GDP, at 21.7 percent and 18.8 percent respectively. This group includes manufacturing industries; electricity, gas, water, and waste services; and construction.

Service industries, as a broad industry group, contributed the least greenhouse gas emissions (11.5 percent) to the 'all industry and households' total but contributed the most to nominal GDP (67.4 percent). This group includes wholesale trade; retail trade; transport, postal, and warehousing; government and defence; and many others.

Changes in emissions by gas type

Gross emissions decreased 612 kt between 2022 and 2023 with three gases contributing to the decrease - methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases (expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent form).

Methane emissions fell 749 kt (2.0 percent). The fall was driven by sheep, beef cattle, and grain farming, which reduced by 452 kt, and dairy cattle farming, which reduced by 338 kt.

Fluorinated gas emissions fell 346 kt (22.9 percent), driven by water, sewerage, drainage, and waste services, which reduced by 298 kt.

Nitrous oxide emissions fell 59 kt (0.8 percent), driven by sheep, beef cattle, and grain farming, which reduced by 52 kt, and dairy cattle farming, which reduced by 49 kt.

Carbon dioxide emissions rose 542 kt (1.6 percent), led by rail, water, air, and other transport, which increased by 1,253 kt. The largest offsetting decrease came from electricity and gas supply, which decreased 227 kt.

For more industry detail by gas type, see Greenhouse gas emissions (industry and household): 2007-2023 - NZSIOC - CSV under Download data.

Tourism-related emissions rise in 2023

Estimates of tourism-related greenhouse gas emissions show the amounts of emissions produced that can be attributed to tourist activity by New Zealand residents, whether domestically or offshore. Tourism includes transport, accommodation, and food and beverage services that relate to tourism activities and other industries that tourists may purchase the outputs from, for example, manufacturing. Tourism-related emissions also include those from households using vehicles for tourist activity.

In 2023, emissions from tourism-related activities increased 1,374 kt to 4,481 kt, on a SEEA basis. This increase was mainly driven by air and space transport, which was up 1,314 kt (65.5 percent).

When compared with total greenhouse gas emissions, tourism-related emissions accounted for 5.7 percent of total emissions produced. This has increased from 3.9 percent in 2022 but is still lower than 2016 to 2019 when tourism-related emissions ranged between 6.0 percent and 6.2 percent of total emissions.

Emissions from tourism, tourism's contribution to GDP, and employment from tourism all increased in 2023, as the tourism sector continued to recover from COVID-19-related travel restrictions of previous years.

The top tourism-related emissions contributors in 2023 were:

• air and space transport, 74.1 percent (up from 64.5 percent in 2022)
• domestic tourism (households), 13.4 percent (down from 18.6 percent in 2022)
• road, rail, and water transport, 4.1 percent (down from 5.0 percent in 2022).

Key industry contributions to emissions and average changes since 2007

The table below summarises key industry contributions to total emissions in 2023, the change in industry emissions when compared with 2007 levels, and the average annual growth rates implied by those changes for key greenhouse gases.

Download data has more industry details in the Excel and CSV files.

Definitions and metadata

Greenhouse gas emissions (industry and household): Year ended 2023 - DataInfo+ gives information on improvements and revisions made in this release.

Environmental-economic accounts: Sources and methods (third edition) presents the data sources and methods used for each of Stats NZ's environmental-economic accounts, including Greenhouse gas emissions (industry and household): Year ended 2023.

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Next release

Greenhouse gas emissions (industry and household): March 2025 quarter will be released on 22 July 2025.