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Recycling rate of municipal waste

The share of municipal waste that is recycled, including material recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion, out of all municipal waste generated.

Unit: % of municipal waste generated Frequency: Annual Coverage: 37 countries and 1 group 2000 to 2024 Source: Eurostat
Highest in 2024 69.0% Germany Lowest in 2024 0.0% Kosovo
European Union, 2024 49.4%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) Official aggregate published by the source
Countries ranked for 2024 32 Updated by the source on 15 October 2026

32 countries have a value for 2024, the latest period in the data.

Trend over time

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Places
4 selected
Groups and aggregates
Countries
European Union × Germany × France × Spain ×

% of municipal waste generated. Source: Eurostat. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Recycling rate of municipal waste (% of municipal waste generated), 2000 to 2024
Period European UnionGermanyFranceSpain
2024 49.4%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 69.0% 45.5%b (break in time series) 42.5%e (estimated)
2023 47.9% 68.7% 40.3%e (estimated) 43.3%p (provisional)
2022 49.1% 69.6% 40.1%e (estimated) 43.1%
2021 49.7% 71.4% 40.9%e (estimated) 43.7%
2020 48.5% 70.3% 39.3%e (estimated) 40.4%
2019 47.2%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 66.7%e (estimated) 41.0%e (estimated) 37.9%
2018 46.4% 67.1% 40.7%e (estimated) 34.8%
2017 46.3% 67.2% 40.2%e (estimated) 36.1%
2016 45.9% 67.1% 39.7%e (estimated) 33.9%
2015 44.9% 66.7% 40.7% 30.0%
2014 43.4% 65.6% 39.7%e (estimated) 30.8%
2013 41.5% 63.8% 38.7% 32.5%
2012 40.9% 65.2% 37.7%e (estimated) 29.8%
2011 38.9% 63.0% 36.8% 26.7%
2010 38.0% 62.5% 36.0%e (estimated) 29.2%
2009 37.3% 63.1% 35.3% 33.2%
2008 36.6% 63.8% 33.8%e (estimated) 39.7%
2007 35.2% 63.2% 32.3% 30.6%
2006 33.2%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 62.1% 30.7%e (estimated) 31.2%
2005 32.5%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 60.9% 29.0% 31.4%
2004 31.8%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 56.4% 29.0% 30.9%
2003 31.1%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 57.8% 28.0% 28.7%
2002 30.4%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 56.1% 27.3% 29.3%
2001 28.7%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 52.3%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 26.1% 21.4%
2000 27.3%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 52.5%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) 24.5% 18.4%

Flags: i value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies; e estimated; p provisional; b break in time series . A dash means no value was published.

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In short

  • Among the 32 countries with a value for 2024, the highest is Germany (69.0%) and the lowest Kosovo (0.0%).
  • Half of the countries are above 45.1% and half below.
  • From 2023 to 2024 the value rose in 22 countries and fell in 8.
  • The figure for the European Union was 49.4% in 2024, against 47.2% in 2019 (+2.2 percentage points).

About this measure

Definition
The share of municipal waste that is recycled, including material recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion, out of all municipal waste generated.
Population covered
Municipal waste
Unit
% of municipal waste generated
Frequency
Annual
Changes are shown as
Percentage points (the difference between two rates)

Source and dates

Original producer
Eurostat
Source
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
Dataset or series code
sdg_11_60 · dataset details · view at source
Selection
freq=A unit=PC
Observation period
2000 to 2024
Provider update
15 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
Eurostat reuse policy (attribution)
Attribution
Source: Eurostat

All countries in 2024 Every value is for 2024, so the countries are compared at the same point in time.

  1. 1 Germany 69.0%
  2. 2 Slovenia 62.4%
  3. 3 Austria 60.7%
  4. 4 Netherlands 58.0%
  5. 5 Belgium 56.6%
  6. 6 Luxembourg 56.5%
  7. 7 Latvia 52.7%
  8. 8 Lithuania 52.5%
  9. 9 Italy 52.3%
  10. 10 Switzerland 51.8%
  11. 11 Slovakia 50.7%
  12. 12 Finland 47.9%
  13. 13 Norway 46.9%
  14. 14 Denmark 46.2%
  15. 15 Sweden 46.1%b (break in time series)
  16. 16 France 45.5%b (break in time series)
  17. 17 Iceland 44.7%
  18. 18 Czechia 44.4%
  19. 19 Ireland 43.1%
  20. 20 Spain 42.5%e (estimated)
  21. 21 Croatia 36.7%
  22. 22 Estonia 36.4%
  23. 23 Hungary 33.6%
  24. 24 Portugal 32.9%
  25. 25 Poland 31.1%
  26. 26 Bulgaria 21.8%
  27. 27 Greece 17.5%
  28. 28 Malta 16.9%
  29. 29 Cyprus 15.8%p (provisional)
  30. 30 Montenegro 3.6%e (estimated)
  31. 31 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.1%
  32. 32 Kosovo 0.0%
  33. European Union 49.4%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies)
Below the line: groups and aggregates, not ranked. View as map Ranking page with top and bottom ten

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Map

Grey: no value for 2024. Colour groups split countries into roughly equal numbers. Boundaries: Natural Earth.