Estimates of green jobs, UK: March 2026

• Using the headline industry approach, we estimate that there were 652,100 full-time equivalents (FTEs) employed in UK green jobs in 2024, an increase of more than a quarter (27.8%) from 510,100 FTEs in 2015, the earliest year with comparable figures.
• Three activity areas accounted for just under half (47.9%) of UK employment (the energy efficient products group, the waste activity, and the renewable energy group) in our headline measure of green jobs in 2024.
• We estimate that 12.6 million FTEs in the UK, or 46.0% of all FTEs, worked for firms in the 10 industries with the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions (residence basis, excluding households) in 2024, together accounting for 4.6% of all UK emissions.
• Just under two-thirds of FTE employees in the London region (62.2%) worked in firms in the 10 lowest-emission industries in 2024, while the East Midlands had the lowest proportions of those employed in these industries (38.6% of all FTEs).
• In mid-2025 around one in eight (13%) working adults in Great Britain said that they would describe any part of their main job as a "green job"; men (16%) were more likely to say this than women (11%).
• Adults who considered any part of their main job to be green in mid-2025 reported higher levels of job quality benefits than those who did not.

We define green jobs as "employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change".

We established this definition in 2023 following substantial stakeholder engagement.

This focuses on activities undertaken, rather than environmental impact. A full breakdown of the activities included in our definition can be found in our Developing estimates of green jobs in the UK methodology.

We provide estimates using three approaches, as described in our methodology:

• industry-based
• firm-based
• occupation-based

There will be overlaps between these approaches, so each should be considered distinctly and not added together.

See Section 8: Data sources and quality for more information on our measures.

The industry-based approach includes all jobs in a "green industry", classified according to the activities they carry out, and is our headline green jobs estimate.

Our approach uses existing data, primarily direct estimates from Low carbon and renewable energy economy (LCREE), UK: 2024 and Environmental Good and Services Sector (EGSS) statistics from our UK Environmental Accounts.

As UK Environmental Accounts data for 2024 are not yet published, we use sources such as the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) to estimate changes in employment, which are an important data source for the EGSS statistics. Therefore, these data should be considered as provisional estimates until the next UK Environmental Accounts publication in summer 2026.

Our headline estimate is that there were 652,100 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees in green jobs in the UK in 2024. This is an increase of 27.8% (142,000 additional FTEs) compared with 2015 (the first available figures), when there were an estimated 510,100 FTEs in green jobs.

Between 2023 and 2024, the number of green jobs fell by 10,800 FTEs. The largest decreases were seen in the energy efficient products group, at 17,600 FTEs (down 11.9%), and waste activity at 10,100 FTEs (down 7.8%), partially offset by increases in other activities including nuclear power at 9,200 FTEs (up 29.3%).

The same three activities accounted for the largest share of employment in 2024 as in 2023. The energy efficient products group was the largest employer with 130,000 FTEs (19.9% of all green job FTEs), and together with waste (119,200 FTEs), and renewable energy group (63,200 FTEs), made up just under half (47.9%) of all green job FTEs in 2024.

Between 2015 and 2024, increases in FTE estimates were seen across several activities, including:

• renewable energy group up 38,500 FTEs, or 27.1% of the total net green jobs increase
• nuclear power up 28,500 FTEs, or 20.1% of the total net green jobs increase
• low carbon transport group up 24,900 FTEs, or 17.5% of the total net green jobs increase
• waste up 18,100 FTEs, or 12.7% of the total net green jobs increase

Our firm-based approach currently looks at total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and employment at an industry level, as a measure of one aspect of the "greenness" of firms. The term "industry" here refers to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) section.

We use provisional 2024 residence-based emissions data from our latest Greenhouse gas emissions, UK: provisional estimates, 2024 bulletin, and provisional 2024 employment data from our latest Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) on Nomis to estimate full-time equivalent (FTE) employees working in firms in both the lowest-emission and highest-emission industries.

In 2024, 12.6 million FTEs, or nearly half (46.0%) of the UK total, worked in firms in the 10 industries with the lowest total residence-based emissions levels, which collectively accounted for 4.6% of total emissions. These 10 industries have not changed since 2020.

By contrast, firms in the five highest-emission industries accounted for 81.0% of UK non-household residence-based emissions in 2024, and 15.5% of total employees (4.2 million FTEs).

Figure 3: Nearly half (46.0%) of all FTEs across the UK economy worked in the 10 lowest-emission industries

Percentage of total residence-based greenhouse gas emissions (excluding emissions from households) and total employees, full-time equivalent (FTE), by industry, UK, 2024

Source: Business Register and Employment Survey from the Office for National Statistics, Ricardo Energy and Environment

Notes:

1. Number of FTE employees for industry "activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and services-producing activities of households for own use" (industry "T"), is not available.
2. The percentage of greenhouse gases by industry has been calculated using residence-based emissions excluding those from households from the total UK economy.
3. 2024 data are provisional.

Looking across regions of England, just under two-thirds of all FTE employees (62.2%) in London were employed by firms in the UK's 10 lowest-emission industries in 2024. The East Midlands had the fewest employed in these industries (38.6% of all FTEs) and the highest percentage of all FTEs employed in the five highest-emission industries (22.3%).

By UK country, England had an estimated 46.8% of FTEs employed by firms in the UK's 10 lowest-emission industries, Scotland 42.5%, Northern Ireland 40.3%, and Wales 40.2%.

Figure 4: In 2024, the highest shares of all FTEs in the 10 lowest‑emission industries outside of the London region, were in Bracknell Forest (66.7%) and Dacorum (65.2%)

Percentage of employees, full-time equivalent (FTE), in the 10 lowest-emitting industries and five highest-emission industries, excluding emissions from households, by UK Local Authority, 2024

Source: Business Register and Employment Survey from the Office for National Statistics, Ricardo Energy and Environment

Notes:

1. Number of FTE employees for industry "activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and services-producing activities of households for own use" (industry "T"), is not available.
2. The percentage of greenhouse gases has been calculated using residence-based emissions excluding those from households from the total UK economy, to give an estimate of emissions per industry.
3. 2024 data are provisional.

We also provide insights quarterly on the actions that businesses report taking to protect the environment, reduce emissions, and adapt to the effects of climate change. See Wave 147 of our Business insights and impact on the UK economy dataset for more information.

Our occupation approach looks at jobs that are "green", based on the specific activities undertaken by those workers, regardless of the industry or firm that they are in.

We use our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) to find the proportion of working adults in Great Britain who report having a green job. The following findings are based on pooled OPN data gathered from 4 June 2025 to 27 July 2025. This includes those who may be self-employed, for more information on these definitions, see Section 7: Glossary.

The survey is based on people's self-reported views, so these estimates can only be indicative of the number of people actually working in green jobs by occupation.

We validated responses to check whether respondents' views on their main jobs were likely to match our definition. We compared responses against their reported occupation and industry, the activities undertaken, and our green jobs definition, to assess whether their job was likely to be green.

This process reduced the reported incidence of green jobs by around half, from 26% to 13% of respondents. Of these 13% describing any part of their main job as green, around 21% (3% of all respondents) said they "always" worked on green activities, and a further 20% said they "often" did.

From the responses, men (16%) were more likely to describe any part of their main job as green than women (11%), and those reporting an annual income of £50,000 or more (20%) were more likely to describe any part of their job as a green job, than those earning between £20,000 and £30,000 (10%).

Figure 5: Men (16%) were more likely to describe any part of their main job as green than women (11%) in mid-2025

Proportion of adults in Great Britain reporting some part of their main job was green or not, validated responses, 4 June 2025 to 27 July 2025

Source: Opinions and Lifestyle Survey from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Question: Would you describe any part of your main job as a "green job"? Responses have undergone validation, to ensure their answers reflect our definition for green jobs and the occupational approach.
2. Base: The sample consists of working adults aged 16 years and over living in Great Britain.
3. Confidence intervals have been provided which measure the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the calculated estimate.
4. The variable "any other ethnic group" is not shown in the chart because the confidence intervals are too wide to support meaningful interpretation.

We also asked those who had reported not having a green main job about their interest in having one in the future: 40% of working adults were very or somewhat interested, compared with 23% who were very or somewhat uninterested. A similar proportion (39%) said they would be very or somewhat interested in training for a green job, compared with 29% who were very or somewhat uninterested.

Our estimates indicate that those who considered any part of their main job to be a green job reported higher levels of potential job benefits, than those reporting they were not in a green job. The list of benefits was based on our previous analysis of job quality indicators. The most statistically significant finding was that working adults who described any part of their main job as green were less likely to report receiving none of the list of benefits (7%) compared with 13% among those not in green jobs.

Figure 6: People reporting having a main job that is green tend to report higher job quality benefits

Proportion of Great Britain adults in a main job that's green or not (validated), reporting on the job quality benefits of their main job, 4 June 2025 to 27 July 2025

Notes:

1. Question: Which of the following, if any, would you consider to be the benefits of your main job? Respondents were able to choose more than one option.
2. For "adults who a have a green main job" responses have undergone validation, to ensure their answers reflect our definition for green jobs and the occupational approach.
3. Base: The sample consists of working adults aged 16 years and over living in Great Britain.
4. Confidence intervals have been provided which measure the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the calculated estimate.

We are exploring the potential to undertake further work on the occupational approach to green jobs, including opportunities for better-quality and timelier data.

Confidence Interval

Confidence intervals (CI) are a standard way of expressing the statistical accuracy of survey-based estimates. A 95% confidence interval is the range within which the true population value would fall for 95% of the time, if the survey were repeated. If an estimate has a high error level, the corresponding confidence interval will be very large.

Employees

An employee is anyone aged 16 years and over who is directly paid by an organisation from its payroll or payrolls, in return for carrying out a full-time or part-time job, or for being on a training scheme. It excludes those who are self-employed, voluntary workers, and working owners who are not paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

Employment

Employment is measured in terms of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, where one FTE employee may be thought of as one person working full-time for one year.

Environmental goods and services sector

The environmental goods and services sector accounts, which follow the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), measure areas of the economy engaged in producing goods and services for environmental protection purposes. It also includes areas of the economy engaged in conserving and maintaining natural resources.

Green job

Employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change.

Some activities have been combined into groups where those activities are considered similar, including the Energy efficient products group, Low Carbon Transport Group, and Renewable Energy Group.

For more information, see our Developing estimates of green jobs in the UK methodology.

Low carbon and renewable energy economy

Economic activities that deliver goods and services that are likely to help the UK generate lower emissions of greenhouse gases. For more information, see our LCREE Survey quality and methodology information (QMI).

Residence-based Greenhouse Gas emissions

The following greenhouse gases (GHG) included in the atmospheric emissions accounts are those covered by the Kyoto Protocol:

• carbon dioxide (CO2)
• methane (CH4)
• nitrous oxide (N2O)
• hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
• perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
• sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
• nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)

These gases contribute directly to global warming and climate change because of their positive radiative forcing effect. The potential of each GHG to cause global warming is assessed in relation to a given weight of CO2, so all GHG emissions are measured as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).

Unlike the emissions measure used to monitor net zero, estimates compiled on a residence basis include data relating to UK residents and UK-registered businesses, regardless of whether they are in the UK or overseas. Data relating to foreign visitors and foreign businesses in the UK are excluded. See our Environmental accounts on air emissions quality and methodology information (QMI) and our Measuring UK greenhouse gas emissions explainer article for further information.

This release updates our Estimates of green jobs, UK: July 2025 bulletin and accompanying dataset.

These statistics are labelled as "official statistics in development". They are based on information from Environmental Accounts, the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy Survey, the Business Register Employment Survey, and the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. We are developing how we collect the data and produce the statistics to improve their quality.

Once we have completed the developments, we will review the statistics with the Statistics Head of Profession.

If the statistics meet trustworthiness, quality and value standards based on user feedback, we will remove the "official statistics in development" label to publish under the "official statistics" label.

If they do not meet trustworthiness, quality, and value standards, we will further develop them and might stop producing them.

If they were "accredited official statistics" before the start of the developments, we will ask the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) to reassess and re-accredit them.

We will inform users of the outcome of our review, of any OSR review, and of any changes.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders on the activities within our green jobs definition, and we welcome feedback. We will also be reviewing data sources to identify potential improvements to our methods, and whether alternative data sources are available. This work will focus on improving the timeliness of our estimates. More information on the quality of these estimates can be found in our Developing estimates of green jobs in the UK methodology.

Revisions 

This release contains revisions to previous years of estimates. Revisions can result from a variety of factors, including from our survey-based estimates, where businesses add or revise previous years' data.

Quality

More quality and methodology information can be found in our Developing estimates of green jobs in the UK methodology.

Strengths and limitations

Our Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE) Survey dataset and our Employees in Great Britain by industry bulletin and accompanying datasets, used in the estimation for a number of activities, are survey-based and gather information from a sample, rather than from the whole population. This means that they are subject to measurable sampling uncertainty, which affects how changes in the estimates across time should be interpreted. Shifts over time may therefore reflect, for example, a shift by employers in the way they report jobs between activities, rather than a change in jobs specifically working on such products or services.

Estimates of the level of uncertainty associated with all figures (confidence intervals and coefficients of variation) can be found in the latest LCREE UK 2024 release and our BRES datasets on Nomis to support interpretation. More information on uncertainty can be found in our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys methodology. 

Industry estimates of green jobs

To provide an initial estimate of jobs in green industries, we have used publicly available data from our:

• LCREE dataset
• Environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) dataset
• Employees in Great Britain by industry bulletin and accompanying datasets

Our total estimates also exclude some activities for which we do not have a data source, most notably those working on decarbonising grid networks, storage, and particular types of low-carbon transport and energy-efficient products. We will continue to explore whether more appropriate data sources are available.

We have also sought to minimise double counting when combining data sources. Some double counting may remain because of the complexity of underlying sources, which we would seek to reduce in future releases.

Where data are not yet available for activities for 2024, these have been forecast using average growth rates. See the notes in our accompanying dataset for more information.

Firm estimates of green jobs

To provide an initial estimate of jobs in green industries, we have used publicly available data from our UK Environmental Accounts bulletin and our latest Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) (on Nomis).

We have used greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a residence basis in our calculations, excluding emissions from households. This measure covers direct emissions, so excludes indirect supply chain emissions, that is, it excludes emissions produced indirectly through the production business outside of the business' direct operating activity.

Employment data are taken from the 2024 BRES and converted to full-time equivalents (FTEs). The BRES collects comprehensive employment information from businesses in England, Scotland, and Wales. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) collects the same information independently in Northern Ireland (NI). The two data sources are then combined to produce estimates on a UK basis.

Because 2024 NISRA data are not available, these NI figures have been modelled and should be interpreted with caution. Growth rates were forecasted using a National-Accounts-aligned method that integrates the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), BRES, and Compensation of Employees data to project NI employment FTEs.

The BRES is a sample survey and produces estimated employment figures. These estimates are of a better quality at higher levels of geography (for example, country). The quality of the estimates deteriorates at lower geographical levels, and this should be considered when using subnational estimates. For more information, see the BRES Quality and Methodology Information.

Opinions and Lifestyle Survey data

Between 4 June 2025 and 27 July 2025, we asked questions on green jobs of working adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain on the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. This resulted in a pooled responding sample size of 4,200 across Great Britain, although the sample size changes where certain questions were only asked of specific subsamples, and where some participants did not provide answers.

The time between data collection and publication for this release is longer than usual. This is because additional time was required to complete detailed analysis and to retain these data for inclusion in a relevant scheduled publication.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population, based on Office for National Statistics population estimates. Estimates for some groups of the population may be subject to greater uncertainty because of smaller sample sizes for these groups (for example, younger adults).

The data collected are self-reported and have subsequently been manually validated. Using the wider range of information provided by the respondent, changes were made to responses where they had been incorrectly categorised under the occupational approach.

For all estimates in the datasets, the questions asked and confidence intervals are provided. Where comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences. We have also been cautious in our language within this release, to reflect the fact that differences may relate to sampling variation.

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey QMI.