Emissions from UK residents and businesses fell by 0.5% in 2024, data shows

Greenhouse gas emissions generated by UK residents and businesses both at home and abroad fell by 0.5% in 2024, provisional figures show.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday that the UK’s so-called “residential basis” emissions were 476 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2024.

This was 43.3% below levels in 1990 – the first year the ONS has data for.

Residence basis emissions cover those generated by British residents and businesses regardless of where they occur geographically.

The 0.5% fall from 2023 continues a general downward trend since the data time series began in 1990.

The manufacturing industry was the largest contributor to this total decrease in 2024, falling by 7.4% from 2023, according to the ONS.

Meanwhile, consumer spending remained the largest single contributor to UK emissions on a residence basis, at 26.0% of the 2024 UK total, the figures show.

These emissions were found to have risen by 1.7% in 2024 compared with 2023, marking the first time annual consumer expenditure emissions have increased since 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic.

This rise was largely driven by a 4.1% increase in residential natural gas combustion, the ONS said.

The second largest contributor to the UK’s emissions last year was found to be the transport sector at 16.1%.

It came after emissions from this industry increased by 4.5% in 2024, continuing a general rise for transport since 2021.

The ONS also published figures on changes in UK emissions intensity – which measures environmental efficiency by comparing the quantity of emissions to the economic output.

Between 2023 and 2024, UK emissions intensity fell from 0.16 to 0.15 thousand tonnes of CO2e per million pounds of gross value added (GVA).

Residence basis emissions, which are published by the ONS, can include emissions generated by UK residents overseas, such as travel, and from UK-registered companies operating abroad but they exclude those generated within the UK by foreign residents and businesses.

They differ from the Energy Department’s (Desnz) figures – last released in March – that calculate the emissions generated within the UK’s borders.

In 2024, these territorial emissions were 371.4 million tonnes of carbon equivalent – which was 3.5% lower than 2023 and 54.2% lower than 1990.