EU CBAM Default Values: What They Are, When You Must Use Them, and How to Find Yours (2026)

If an EU customer has asked you for CBAM data, or your freight forwarder has mentioned default values, this is the page that explains what they are talking about, in plain terms, with the actual numbers a click away.

CBAM default values are the EU's fallback emission figures for imported goods. When an importer cannot get verified, installation-level emissions data for a product, the EU lets them calculate the carbon cost using a published default value instead. Those values are official, country-specific, and product-specific, and they are deliberately set on the high side. Understanding them is the difference between quoting an EU buyer a competitive price and quietly losing the order to a supplier who did the homework.

What a CBAM default value actually is

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism puts a carbon price on goods imported into the EU in five covered sectors: iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, and hydrogen (electricity is handled separately). The price tracks the EU Emissions Trading System, so a tonne of embedded CO2 in imported steel costs roughly what a tonne costs an EU producer.

To charge that, the EU needs to know how much carbon is embedded in each shipment. The best answer is the producer's own verified figure. When that is not available, the EU falls back to a default value: a single number, in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of product, for a given good from a given country.

These values live in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 (the default values as adopted, dated 4 February 2026). They replace the rougher global-average figures used during the transitional period, and they are now broken out by:

• Direct emissions from the production process itself (fuel combustion, chemical reactions, on-site heat).
• Indirect emissions from the electricity the production consumes.
• Total embedded emissions, the sum of the two, which is the headline number on each of our pages.

You can browse all of them, by country and by sector, on the CBAM default values database.

When you must use a default value (and when you should not)

This is the part most explainers blur. The rule is simple, and it matters:

You may use a default value only when actual, verifiable emissions data is not available. Default values are the fallback, not the default choice. If the producer can supply verified installation-level emissions, that figure should be used instead, and in almost every case it will be lower.

A few practical consequences:

• If your country is not listed for a CN code, the importer uses the Other countries and territories figure. You can see that row in our data wherever it applies.
• If your country is listed but a particular CN code has no specific value, the other countries figure still applies for that code.
• Default values apply to the goods in scope; electricity has its own treatment and is not covered by the product tables here.

The reason to care: because defaults are intentionally conservative, leaning on them usually means the EU importer pays more than your real emissions justify. More on that below, and in full in the guide on how to calculate your CBAM costs.

Why default values are set high on purpose

Default values are not neutral estimates. They are a policy lever. The EU sets them above the typical producer's real emissions, and adds a markup on top, so that relying on them is the expensive option. The point is to push importers and their suppliers toward verified actual data.

The markup rises over time. Across multiple advisories it is reported at 10% in 2026, 20% in 2027, and 30% from 2028, applied to most CBAM goods. Fertilisers are treated more gently, with a small annual increase rather than the steep ramp. On top of the markup, the certificate obligation itself phases in over the definitive period as EU ETS free allocation is withdrawn, so the share of embedded emissions you pay for grows year on year.

The Commission updates these mechanics, so treat the percentages here as orientation and confirm the current figures against the regulation. Our exposure calculator applies the live values so you do not have to track them by hand.

The takeaway is blunt: a default value is a ceiling the EU hopes you will beat. Many producers can.

How to find the default value for your product

You need two things: your country and your CN code (the EU customs classification for your product, usually eight digits, sometimes shown shorter at the heading level).

Three ways to get to the number on this site:

1. Search. Use the search box (or press the command-key shortcut) and type a CN code, a product name, or a country. It jumps straight to the value.
2. Browse by country. Open your country, for example China, India, or Türkiye, then pick a sector to see every product with its direct, indirect, and total values.
3. Browse by sector. Open a sector, for example iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, or hydrogen, to compare the same product across exporting countries.

Each value carries a visible source line citing Implementing Reg (EU) 2025/2621 and the official EU file, so you can trust the number and show your buyer where it comes from.

A worked example: grey Portland cement sits around 1.49 tCO2e per tonne at the high end of the country range, while flat-rolled steel and the most carbon-intensive steel grades run far higher. See the specific figures on the grey Portland cement page and the flat-rolled steel page, or the country-and-sector view for China steel.

What the number costs you

A default value is only half the story. What an EU buyer actually pays is the certificate cost, which in essence is:

embedded emissions (the default value times your tonnes) multiplied by the EU ETS certificate price, adjusted for the phase-in obligation share and any carbon price already paid in the country of origin.

Because the ETS price moves weekly and the phase-in changes by year, the practical way to see your exposure is to run it. The exposure calculator takes your product, country, volume, and year, and returns the embedded emissions and the estimated certificate cost, plus a side-by-side of the default value against your own verified data so you can see exactly what reporting actuals would save. The full method is in how to calculate your CBAM costs.

How to pay less than the default

If your real emissions are below the default (they usually are for a modern, efficient plant), the move is to report verified actual data instead of accepting the default. That means collecting installation-level emissions from the producer and getting them into a form the EU importer can use.

Two free templates make that concrete: a supplier emissions questionnaire and a buyer data-request sheet, both on the templates page. They are the fastest way to start turning a high default into a lower, verified number.

For a sector that feels this acutely, see CBAM for steel importers, where default values are among the highest and the savings from actuals are largest.

Key dates

• 1 January 2026: the CBAM definitive period began. Embedded emissions from imports now carry a real financial obligation.
• 2026 onward: importers report emissions for the year; default values apply where actuals are not available.
• 2027: CBAM certificates become available to buy, and the first surrender for 2026 emissions is due by 30 September 2027.

A 50-tonne annual threshold per importer was introduced as a 2026 simplification, exempting the smallest importers. If your EU buyer is above it (most industrial buyers are), default values are firmly in play.