North Macedonia Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

air pollution from metallurgical plants; Skopje has severe air pollution problems every winter as a result of industrial emissions, smoke from wood-buring stoves, and exhaust fumes from old cars

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

warm, dry summers and autumns; relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall

Land use

agricultural land: 44.3% (2018 est.)

arable land: 16.4% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 26.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 39.8% (2018 est.)

other: 15.9% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 59.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.61% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.15% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 25.17 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 7.05 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 2.28 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 796,585 tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 1,434 tons (2013 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 0.2% (2013 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 310 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 140 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

6.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)