In 2021, the National Expenditure on Environmental Protection (NEEP) increased again (18.0%), as a result of positive changes in its main components: final consumption expenditure (20.8%), intermediate consumption (22.6%) and investment (6.1%). NEEP's growth outpaced the performance of national economic activity, with GDP increasing by 7.7% in nominal terms.

All institutional sectors of the economy have contributed to this positive outcome. Corporations, responsible for 60.0% of the NEEP, grew by 24.0%, General government and Non-profit Institutions Serving Households increased by 6.0%, and Households grew by 17.2%. 

The two most relevant environmental domains to the NEEP explain the positive trend: in Waste management, which accounted for 44.7% of the total value, there was an increase of 20.5% and in Wastewater management (which contributed 29.9% to the total expenditure) the growth was 18.0%. 

In 2021, the share of NEEP in GDP (1.8%) was below the EU27 average (2.2%).