Scotland's Carbon Footprint: 1998-2019

22nd March 2023

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Scotland's Carbon Footprint: 1998-2019.

This publication provides estimates of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions on a consumption basis; that is emissions that are associated with the spending of Scottish residents on goods and services, wherever in the world these emissions arise, together with emissions directly generated by Scottish households.

Key points

Between 2018 and 2019, Scotland’s carbon footprint (emissions from all greenhouse gases) decreased by 1.3 per cent from 76.9 in 2018 to 75.9 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2019.

Between 1998 and 2019, Scotland’s carbon footprint fell by 23.6 per cent, from 99.3 MtCO2e in 1998 to 75.9 MtCO2e in 2019.

Scotland’s carbon footprint rose continuously from 1999 to a peak of 112.4 MtCO2e in 2006 before falling sharply in the following years (coinciding with the recession) and, with the exception of 2018, has fallen each subsequent year. The overall reduction between the 2006 peak and 2019 is 32.5 per cent.