Emissions per unit of output: sustained decline
The claim
GHG emissions per $M of real GDP, physical flow account basis, annual: 14 consecutive years of negative change
GHG emissions per $M of real GDP, physical flow account basis, annual has been negative for 14 consecutive years, beginning in 2010. The latest reading is 304 in 2023. This is a ratio, not a level: real GDP growth alone can drive it down even if emissions are flat, so it must not be read as 'emissions are falling'. A streak counts consecutive periods in one direction; it carries no causal claim and does not imply the run will continue.
Method
Count consecutive years with a negative change, most recent backward; reported only from 4 consecutive years onward.
Key sources and licences
- Physical flow account for greenhouse gas emissions — Statistics Canada Licence text read in full
- GDP, expenditure-based, quarterly — Statistics Canada Licence text read in full
| Added to the Record | 2026-07-13 |
|---|---|
| How it is used | Public in the Record |
| Where it appears | Featured in the Emissions Delivery Brief's sector chapter (/briefs/emissions-delivery/, 'Where emissions moved'), with its real-GDP denominator caveat carried in the same breath: emissions per unit of output have fallen for fourteen consecutive years, but that is a ratio, and real GDP growth alone would drive it down even if absolute emissions were flat. |
| What would change it | An inventory or GDP revision changing the intensity path, or a future climate composition giving the denominator caveat its full frame. |
| Corrections | None on record for this claim — policy → |
Technical details
| Record ID | R2-streak:ghg_intensity_a |
|---|---|
| Detection rule | R2-streak |
| Indicator | ghg_intensity_a |
Every figure this Receipt covers can be reproduced from the named public sources under Countability's published method. If a correction is ever needed, it produces a new dated version rather than editing this one.