358 Emission Zones in Europe 2026: 93% Bar a Euro 3 Diesel
How many low-emission zones Europe runs, which country has the most, the median fine of EUR 100, and the share that shut out a pre-2006 diesel: 93%.
Europe runs 358 in-force low-emission zones across 19 countries, and 93% of those setting a diesel standard exclude Euro 3 or older — but check your own city: the median fine is EUR 100.
Europe runs 358 in-force low-emission zones across 19 countries, led by Italy with 173, almost all of them ZTLs, ahead of Spain’s 55 and Germany’s 41 Umweltzone cities. Of the 151 zones that set a diesel standard, 93% already exclude a pre-2006 diesel — anything Euro 3 or older — and the median fine for getting it wrong is EUR 100, though Verona’s maximum reaches EUR 9,850.
Your case: A country total tells you nothing about your own car — enter its fuel type and Euro class against a specific city in the emission zone checker.
This study breaks the picture down by country, by system and by fine level, drawn from a maintained live database rather than a one-off survey. The underlying figures are published as CSV, JSON and GeoJSON downloads, free to reuse and cite.
Emission zones by country
| Country | Zones | |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | 173 | |
| Spain | 55 | |
| Germany | 41 | |
| France | 28 | |
| United Kingdom | 15 | |
| Netherlands | 9 | |
| Sweden | 8 | |
| Denmark | 7 | |
| Poland | 6 | |
| Austria | 4 | |
| Belgium | 3 | |
| Norway | 2 | |
| Greece | 1 | |
| Hungary | 1 | |
| Switzerland | 1 |
The five systems, by the numbers
| Zone type | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| ZTL (Italy — limited-traffic historic centres) | 169 | |
| ZBE (Spain — DGT label) | 55 | |
| Umweltzone (Germany — green sticker) | 41 | |
| ZFE (France — Crit'Air) | 28 | |
| LEZ (UK/other low-emission zones) | 27 | |
| Milieuzone | 9 | |
| CAZ (UK Clean Air Zones) | 8 | |
| Miljözon | 7 |
How old is too old? Diesel Euro requirement
Across the 151 zones that specify a diesel standard, this is the minimum Euro class demanded — the higher the bar, the more older cars are shut out:
| Minimum diesel standard | Zones |
|---|---|
| Euro 2 (1997+) | 6 |
| Euro 3 (2001+) | 4 |
| Euro 4 (2006+) | 87 |
| Euro 5 (2011+) | 34 |
| Euro 6 (2015+) | 20 |
The fines
The average penalty for entering illegally is EUR 166 (median EUR 100). But the range is huge — the steepest maximum fines:
| City | Country | Max fine |
|---|---|---|
| Graz | Austria | EUR 2,180 |
| Aarhus | Denmark | EUR 1,675 |
| Esplugues de Llobregat | Spain | EUR 500 |
| León | Spain | EUR 451 |
| Nimes | France | EUR 450 |
| Brussels | Belgium | EUR 350 |
| Vasto | Italy | EUR 332 |
| Utrecht | Netherlands | EUR 320 |
| Cádiz | Spain | EUR 260 |
| Ávila | Spain | EUR 200 |
Methodology
Figures are computed from TyreMap’s emission_zones.json dataset. The dataset holds 596 verified records; where a city keeps several records for the same scheme (a general zone plus its sub-zones), those are merged for this study, leaving 548 distinct zones — of which 358 are in force (from 395 active records) and 190 are planned, postponed, scrapped or record a town with no zone, and are excluded from the statistics above. Each record carries coordinates, the minimum Euro class for petrol and diesel, sticker/permit rules, fines and enforcement. Fines are normalised to euros (the maximum of any stated range; local-currency amounts are converted using the figure published by the operating authority). “Shut out to pre-2006 diesels” counts zones whose minimum diesel standard is Euro 4 or higher, among the zones that specify a diesel standard. Figures recomputed from the dataset on 30 September 2026; rules change, so confirm any specific city on its official source before travelling.
Use this data — it’s free
This study and the underlying dataset are free to cite and reuse under CC BY 4.0 — please credit TyreMap with a link to this page. Journalists and researchers welcome:
- 📋 Detailed country guides: Germany · France · Italy · Spain · United Kingdom · Netherlands · Sweden · Denmark · Austria · Poland · Belgium
- 🗺️ Explore every zone on the interactive Europe Emission Zone Map
- ⬇️ Download the full dataset: CSV · JSON · GeoJSON · data dictionary & licence
- 🐙 Also on GitHub: Tyremap/europe-emission-zones — star it, open issues for corrections, or fork it
- 🚗 Check your own car against any city with the Emission Zone Checker or plan a whole route with Plan My Drive
Cite this dataset
Copy-paste citation (please keep the link — that is the only thing we ask in return):
TyreMap (2026). State of Europe’s Emission Zones 2026 — dataset of 596 verified European emission-zone records. Retrieved from https://tyremap.com/guides/europe-emission-zones-report-2026/ (CC BY 4.0).
Newsroom / research use: free, including in books, newspapers, broadcast and academic work, with attribution to TyreMap and a link to this page. Product or internal business use: also free under CC BY 4.0 — we simply ask for the same credit. If you need a machine-readable feed, a bulk export on a fixed schedule, or verification dates newer than our public weekly cycle, get in touch.
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Frequently Asked Questions
As of 2026, there are 358 distinct low-emission zones in force across 19 European countries in TyreMap's database, plus 190 more that are planned, postponed, scrapped (Manchester's and Liverpool's among them) or towns with no zone — spanning Italy's ZTLs, France's Crit'Air ZFEs, Spain's ZBEs, Germany's Umweltzonen and the UK's LEZ/CAZ schemes.
Italy leads by a wide margin with 173 zones, almost all ZTLs, followed by Spain (55), Germany (41 Umweltzone cities, which the federal register groups into 35 zones) and France (28 Crit'Air ZFEs) — the order and counts shown in the country table below.
The steepest maximum in the data is Graz (up to EUR 2,180, for goods vehicles), followed by Aarhus (DKK 12,500, about EUR 1,675, for lorries and buses). The Europe-wide median fine is far lower, EUR 100.
Increasingly not: 93% of Europe's emission zones that specify a diesel standard require Euro 4 (2006) or newer, so a pre-2006 diesel is locked out of more than nine in ten of them.