Emissions of air pollutants in the UK – Compliance with Code of Practice for Statistics
Updated 12 February 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/emissions-of-air-pollutants/emissions-of-air-pollutants-in-the-uk-compliance-with-code-of-practice-for-statistics
Accredited official statistics status and recent changes to this publication
Accredited official statistics status means that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value, and it is our responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards.
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, and they have been referred to by this name for previous publications. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the improvements recommended in the July 2019 review.
This included revising the colour contrast of figures to help account for colour-blindness, removing merged cells in tables, providing appropriate alternative text for screen readers, amongst others. We have also implemented additional changes that enhance the coherence, accessibility, clarity and insight of the statistics and data for a wide range of users. For example, we have converted the statistics bulletins to HTML format and published chart images as more accessible SVG files.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details below). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Defra keeps all accredited official statistics under review and seeks to make changes periodically to meet the needs of users. Please provide feedback to help us make the publication more valuable to you. Send any feedback to aqie.correspondence@defra.gov.uk.
As part of our ongoing commitment to compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics we wish to strengthen our engagement with users of air quality data and better understand how the data is used and the types of decisions that they inform. We invite users to register as a “user of Air Quality data”, so that we can retain your details, inform you of any new releases of Emissions statistics and provide you with the opportunity to take part in user engagement activities that we may run. If you would like to register as a ‘user of air quality data’, please provide your details in the attached form.
Compliance with Defra Group Statistics Quality Statement
Defra group (that is: core Defra, Forestry Commission, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies) published a set of principles that producers of statistics should adhere to, with the aim of ensuring quality is a central consideration when producing official or accredited official statistics.
There is significant overlap between the Quality Statement and the Code of Practice for Statistics. These statistics aim to comply with both sets of requirements.
User engagement has been an ongoing challenge for statistics products across Defra. Defra group has produced a User Engagement Policy Statement which outlines some of the methods recently implemented by the air quality and emissions statistics team to improve engagement with users.
The emissions of air pollutants GOV.UK homepage will be used to make any announcements of future changes to the content or structure of the releases. Future methodological changes to compilation of emissions estimates are explained in the report on methods and quality processes for UK air pollutant emissions statistics
The methods and processes for compiling these emissions statistics are documented in the report mentioned above which is produced alongside this statistical release. A more in-depth analysis is provided annually in March in the Informative Inventory Report (IIR) available on the NAEI website. Internal peer review is conducted on the statistical release prior to publication and follows internally documented peer review processes: the Lead Statistician (Ellie Martell) has responsibility for ensuring these processes are followed and any mistakes are addressed in line with Defra’s revisions and corrections policy.
There are many data suppliers of activity data and emissions, and the inventory compilation process is managed by Ricardo Energy and Environment. The treatment of confidential information section within the report on methods and quality processes for UK air pollutant emissions statistics gives detail on the handling of confidential or sensitive data by contractors, and substantial information is provided on quality assurance of the data. Within Defra we do not hold confidential data on emissions or activity data. However, we still ensure that the statistics are not shared outside of the pre-release access list to build and maintain trust that the statistics are prepared impartially.
Sections in this release
Emissions of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5)
Emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds
Methods and quality processes for UK air pollutant emissions statistics (PDF)