The economic crisis hitting the European Union caused the bloc's carbon dioxide emissions to drop by six percent last year, the Oslo-based research institute Point Carbon said.

The EU's 27 member states, which take part in the bloc's emissions trading scheme, emitted 2.11 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2008, compared to 2.24 billion a year earlier, the institute said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

"Today's numbers tell us two things. They confirm that the recession is leading to lower emissions, with both industry output and power demand down," Kjersti Ulset, a Point Carbon official, said.

"But they also show that the carbon market works as intended. The emission reductions we see in the power sector are partly a result of the high carbon price we had for the first half of 2008," she added.

The biggest drops took place in the cement, lime and glass sector and the pulp and paper industry, which were both down by nine percent, "possibly indicating that these are the sectors that have been worse hit by the recession," Point Carbon said.

The power and heating sector registered a six-percent drop in emissions, and the oil and gas and metal industries a one-percent drop.

By country, Germany was the biggest emitter in Europe, accounting for 22 percent, ahead of Britain at 13 percent, the institute said.

The figures are based on data for 10,391 installations accounting for 94 percent of 2007 emissions, Point Carbon said.