The June 2022 quarter saw the third successive increase in quarterly emissions and a gross domestic product (GDP) increase of 1.9 percent, Stats NZ said.
Although total quarterly emissions rose, decreases were recorded by households and several industry groups. Most notably, manufacturing emissions dropped by 7.5 percent, or 194 kilotonnes, it said.
"The fall was driven mostly by petroleum, chemical, plastic and rubber product manufacturing," Stats NZ environmental-economic accounts manager Stephen Oakley said.
The cessation of oil refining activity from April 2022 was a key factor behind manufacturing's quarterly fall, Oakley said.
Falls in emissions from manufacturing and households were more than offset by the 8.5 percent increase in emissions from electricity, gas, water, as well as the 5.5 percent increase in emissions from transport, postal and warehousing, he said.
Household emissions fell 2 percent in the June 2022 quarter, driven by a 1.7 percent fall in private transport emissions, statistics show.
For the year to June 2022, total annual emissions fell 5.2 percent, and total annual emissions for industry and households were 77,512 kilotonnes, still significantly below the pre-pandemic level, which peaked at 84,633 kilotonnes in September 2019, Stats NZ said.
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