Europe's 459 Emission Zones in 2026: The Full Data Study
Europe now operates 459 in-force low-emission zones in 19 countries, and 92% of those that set a diesel standard shut out anything older than Euro 3.
Europe has 459 in-force low-emission zones across 19 countries, and 92% of the zones that set a diesel standard now exclude pre-2006 diesels — Euro 3 or older.
Europe now runs 459 in-force low-emission zones across 19 countries, with around 90 more announced or shelved, and the map is closing on older cars faster than most drivers realise. Of the zones that set a diesel standard, 92% already exclude a pre-2006 diesel — anything Euro 3 or older. 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 | 58 | |
| France | 51 | |
| Germany | 42 | |
| United Kingdom | 15 | |
| Netherlands | 10 | |
| Sweden | 8 | |
| Denmark | 7 | |
| Austria | 5 | |
| Poland | 5 | |
| Belgium | 3 | |
| Portugal | 2 | |
| Norway | 2 | |
| Greece | 1 | |
| Slovakia | 1 |
The five systems, by the numbers
| Zone type | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| ZTL (Italy — limited-traffic historic centres) | 167 | |
| ZBE (Spain — DGT label) | 58 | |
| ZFE (France — Crit'Air) | 51 | |
| Umweltzone (Germany — green sticker) | 42 | |
| LEZ (UK/other low-emission zones) | 28 | |
| Milieuzone | 10 | |
| CAZ (UK Clean Air Zones) | 8 | |
| Miljözon | 7 |
How old is too old? Diesel Euro requirement
Across the 191 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+) | 10 |
| Euro 3 (2001+) | 10 |
| Euro 4 (2006+) | 108 |
| Euro 5 (2011+) | 43 |
| Euro 6 (2015+) | 20 |
The fines
The average penalty for entering illegally is EUR 225 (median EUR 100). But the range is huge — the steepest maximum fines:
| City | Country | Max fine |
|---|---|---|
| Verona | Italy | EUR 9,850 |
| Bratislava | Slovakia | EUR 6,000 |
| Delft | Netherlands | EUR 3,030 |
| Linz | Austria | EUR 2,180 |
| Aarhus | Denmark | EUR 1,675 |
| Sofia | Bulgaria | EUR 511 |
| León | Spain | EUR 500 |
| Geneva | Switzerland | EUR 500 |
| Ghent | Belgium | EUR 350 |
| Siena | Italy | EUR 335 |
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 549 distinct zones — of which 459 are in force and around 90 are flagged as announced, in preparation or scrapped and 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. Data verified August 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: f4tihwin57/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.
For questions or corrections, use our contact page.
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Frequently Asked Questions
As of 2026, there are 459 low-emission zones in force across 19 European countries in TyreMap's database, plus around 90 more that are announced, in preparation or (in Manchester's and Liverpool's case) scrapped — 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 ZTL zones, followed by Germany (115 Umweltzonen), Spain (58 ZBEs) and France (50 ZFEs).
The steepest maximum penalties are in Denmark (around EUR 2,700) and Austria (EUR 2,180). The Europe-wide median fine is far lower, around EUR 100.
Increasingly not: 92% 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.