BERLIN (REUTERS) - German emissions of sulphur hexafluoride, the most potent of all greenhouse gases, rose 13 per cent last year compared with 2013 levels, according to data from the federal statistics office published on Wednesday.

Sulphur hexafluoride emissions increased by 104 tonnes to 916 tonnes in total last year, but were still 16 per cent lower than 2012, the statistics office said.

The most potent of all greenhouse gases, sulphur hexafluoride has a global warming effect some 22,800 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) when compared over a 100-year period.

It is mainly produced in industrial processes, such as the production of electronics and apparatus.

Sulphur hexafluoride is one of the six greenhouse gases, with CO2 the most important pollutant. They are also called Kyoto gases, as they were defined in the climate pact struck in that Japanese city.

While sulphur hexafluoride emissions rose last year, the environment ministry said in March that greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 4.3 per cent year-on-year to 912 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2014.