Brussels – Environmental tax revenues rose between 2023 and 2024, but as a proportion of GDP they were lower than ten years earlier, according to data released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office. Environmental tax revenue in the European Union rose to 371.9 billion euros in 2024 from 350.4 billion euros in 2023. This represents a 6.1 per cent increase (+21.4 billion euros). However, “despite this increase, the share of environmental taxes in the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) declined from 2.5% in 2014 to 2.1% in 2024.”
Furthermore, over the same period, environmental tax revenue as a percentage of total public revenue from taxes and social security contributions fell from 6.1 per cent to 5.1 per cent. Significant differences remained between the various countries. Bulgaria (9.7 per cent) and Greece (9.4 per cent) recorded the highest shares, although both experienced substantial declines over the three-year period. Other countries with relatively high shares included the Netherlands (7.7 per cent), Slovenia (7.3 per cent), Latvia (7.2 per cent), and Poland (7 per cent). At the other end, Luxembourg recorded the lowest rate (2.9 per cent), followed by Sweden (3.9 per cent), and Norway (4 per cent). While most countries showed only modest year-on-year changes, significant increases were observed in Italy, where the proportion rose from 5.5 per cent in 2022 to 6.5 per cent in 2024, and in Hungary, from 5.2 per cent in 2022 to 5.8 per cent in 2024. “Overall, the data indicate that, despite relatively stable levels in many countries, the contribution of environmental taxes to total tax revenues declined slightly at the EU level and continued to vary markedly across Europe,” Eurostat said.
More specifically, energy taxes accounted for over three-quarters (77.2 per cent) of total environmental tax revenue in the EU, reaching 287 billion euros in 2024 from 269.3 billion euros the previous year. Transport taxes (18 per cent of the total) amounted to 67 billion euros in 2024 compared with 64 billion euros in 2023, while taxes on pollution and resources (4.8 per cent) totalled 17.9 billion euros compared with €17.2 billion in 2023.
The figures show that environmental tax revenue increased in 22 EU countries in 2024. Romania recorded the highest growth (+21.7 per cent), followed by Lithuania and Poland, with 13.9 per cent and 12.7 per cent, respectively. Hungary (+12.2 per cent) and Poland (+11.2 per cent) are also among the countries with the highest increases. In five EU countries, revenues fell compared with the previous year: Sweden (-17.7 per cent), Slovakia (-6.1 per cent), Finland (-3.8 per cent), Greece (-3.7 per cent), and Bulgaria (-2.3 per cent).
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
