Comparison of Environmental Economic Performance In South Korea and Germany

This paper compares the environmental economic performance of the South Korean and the German economy during the last decade. The analysis is based on comparable data from the Environmental Economic Accounts (EEA). The EEA is a satellite account to the National Accounts which enhances the conventional economic accounts by a description of the interactions between the economy and the environment. The data from the EEA and the national accounts are fully compatible. In absolute terms the environmental pressures caused by economic activities were with regards to the environmental factors used for the analysis generally lower in South Korea than in Germany. If the use of environmental factors is related to each country's gross domestic product (environmental productivities) a lower level of environmental productivity can be observed for most of the environmental factors in South Korea compared to Germany. For example in 1999 energy and $CO_2$ productivity were about two fifths of the German level. This corresponds to the relation regarding labour productivity (Gross domestic product per employment).