EU environmental tax revenue up 6.1% in 2024

In 2024, environmental tax revenue in the EU amounted to €371.9 billion compared with €350.4 billion in 2023, marking a 6.1% increase (+€21.4 billion).

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. Over the same period, environmental tax revenue as a share of the total government revenue from taxes and social contributions fell from 6.1% to 5.1%.

Energy taxes were the main source of environmental taxes in the EU, reaching €287.0 billion in 2024, up from €269.3 billion in the year before. Transport taxes followed with €67.0 billion in 2024, from €64.0 billion in 2023, while taxes on pollution and resources totalled €17.9 billion, compared with €17.2 billion in 2023.

Source dataset: env_ac_taxind2

This information comes from data on environmental taxes by economic activity published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on environmental tax statistics.

Environmental taxes up in most EU countries in 2024

Data shows that environmental tax revenues increased in 22 EU countries in 2024. Romania recorded the highest growth (+21.7%), followed by Lithuania and Poland, with 13.9% and 12.7%, respectively. Hungary (+12.2%) and Poland (+11.2%) were also among the countries with the highest increases.
In 5 EU countries, these revenues decreased compared with the previous year: Sweden (-17.7%), Slovakia (-6.1%), Finland (-3.8%), Greece (-3.7%) and Bulgaria (-2.3%).

Source dataset: env_ac_taxind2