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Fossil Fuel Subsidies 2023

Effective Carbon Rates

Petrol tax per tonne of carbon dioxide rose by 2% to €225 in 2023

Online ISSN: 2737-7334

CSO statistical release, 30 April 2025, 11am

Editor's Note

The average effective carbon rate of a fuel is the amount of energy tax paid per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted through combustion of the fuel. Energy taxes include excise duty on fuels, carbon tax, electricity tax, the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) Levy, the Public Service Obligation (PSO) Levy and emission permit purchases under the Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). Temporary changes to many of these energy tax rates were implemented in 2022 and 2023.

Average Effective Carbon Rates

Average Effective Carbon Rates 2021-2023

Figure 1.1 shows average effective carbon rates by sector from 2021 to 2023. The average effective carbon rate on petrol rose by 2% to €225 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2023, after an 18% drop in 2022. The diesel rate was up by 4% in 2023 at €170 per tonne of carbon dioxide, having decreased by 16% to €164 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2022. Average effective carbon rates on other fuels including aviation gasoline, rail diesel, and marked gas oil used in agriculture and fishing also increased in 2023, having fallen in 2022, but remained lower than 2021 levels. The relatively lower rates on these fuels were related to temporary excise and NORA Levy rate reductions implemented in 2022 and 2023 in response to rises in energy prices, which outweighed increases in carbon tax on these fuels.

Average effective carbon rates on electricity consumption, including by the rail sector, decreased in 2022 and 2023 due to negative PSO Levy rates.

The average effective carbon rate on jet kerosene increased from €26 to €29 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2023, while the average rate on fuels used for electricity generation increased from €75 to €78 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2023. Both increases resulted from an increase in the average price at auction of EU-ETS emission permits.

Average Effective Carbon Rates by Sector

Figure 1.1 and Table 1.1 show that petrol had the highest effective carbon rate for all years shown due to the higher rate of excise duty applied to petrol compared with other fuels, and the smaller number of tax exemptions and repayments available to consumers of petrol. In 2023, the effective carbon rate on petrol was €225 per tonne of carbon dioxide, while the diesel rate was €55 lower at €170 per tonne of carbon dioxide. The rate on marked gas oil used in agriculture and fishing was €59 and the rate on jet kerosene was €29 per tonne of carbon dioxide. The lowest effective carbon rates were on marine fuels due to excise, carbon tax, and NORA levy exemptions, as well as non-inclusion in the EU-ETS (as of 2023).

Table 1.1 shows average effective carbon rates by sector for 2014-2023. Tables 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 contain data on excise fuel volumes, and tax rates and emission factors used in the calculation of average effective carbon rates for this release.

Fuel	2021	2022	2023
Road Petrol	269	220	225
Road Diesel	196	164	170
Jet Kerosene	5	26	29
Aviation Gasoline	177	144	170
Marine Diesel	9	7	4
Electricity Generation Fuels	50	75	78
Agriculture and Fishing Diesel	62	52	59
Household Heating Fuels	36	37	44

Table 1.1 Average Effective Carbon Rate by Sector, 2014-2023

Net Energy Tax per Litre

Figure 1.2 and Tables 1.2A-C show net average energy taxes per litre on selected fuels. In 2023, net energy taxes on petrol were 53 cent per litre, up slightly from 52 cent per litre in 2022 but down from 63 cent per litre in 2021, while net energy taxes on road diesel were 46 cent per litre compared with 44 cent per litre in 2022 and 53 cent per litre in 2021.

Net energy taxes on petrol were made up of excise duty (excluding carbon tax) of 41 cent per litre, carbon tax of 11 cent per litre, and NORA Levy of 2 cent per litre.

Net excise on petrol, diesel and marked gas oil (MGO) decreased in 2022 due to temporary excise rate reductions and remained below 2021 levels in 2023, while carbon tax on all fuels in Tables 1.2A-C increased between 2021 and 2023.

	NORA Levy	Carbon Tax	Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)
Petrol	0.015	0.11	0.41
Autodiesel	0.015	0.12	0.32
Household Heating Kerosene	0.015	0.11	0
Household Heating MGO	0.015	0.13	0
Agricultural MGO	0.015	0.13	0

Table 1.2A Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2023

Table 1.2B Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2022

Table 1.2C Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2021

Table 1.3 Fuel Excise Volumes used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2014-2023

Table 1.4 Emission Factors and Conversion Factors used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2023

Table 1.5 Energy Tax Rates used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2014-2023

Table 1.5 Energy Tax Rates used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2014-2023
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Excise Duty, excluding Carbon Tax, on Hydrocarbons (€ per 1000 litres)
Petrol¹	541.84	541.84	541.84	541.84	541.84	541.84	541.84	541.84	440.53	395.50
Road diesel¹	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	348.64	315.18
Road LPG	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59	63.59
Marked gas oil¹	47.36	47.36	47.36	47.36	47.36	47.36	47.36	47.36	12.85	8.08
Fuel oil	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78
Kerosene	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Other LPG	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Electricity Tax (€ per Megawatt-hour)
Non-business use	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Business use	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00

Carbon Tax on Hydrocarbons (€ per 1000 litres)²
Petrol	45.87	45.87	45.87	45.87	45.87	45.87	59.85	77.52	94.87	112.23
Road diesel	53.3	53.3	53.3	53.3	53.3	53.3	69.18	89.66	109.74	129.81
Road LPG	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	42.48	54.68	66.93	79.17
Marked gas oil	54.92	54.92	54.92	54.92	54.92	54.92	70.42	90.81	111.14	131.47
Fuel oil	61.75	61.75	61.75	61.75	61.75	61.75	80.27	103.23	126.34	149.45
Kerosene	50.73	50.73	50.73	50.73	50.73	50.73	65.74	84.84	103.83	122.83
Other LPG	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	42.48	54.68	66.93	79.17

Natural Gas Carbon Tax (€ per tonne CO₂)²	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	26.00	33.50	41.00	48.50

Solid Fuel Carbon Tax (€ per tonne CO₂)³
Coal	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	26.00	33.50	41.00	48.50
Peat	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	26.00	33.50	41.00	48.50

NORA Levy (€ per 1,000 litres)⁴	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	15.20	16.80

PSO Levy⁵
Domestic (€/customer)	42.87	64.37	60.09	70.75	92.28	41.76	34.08	78.24	51.66	0.00
Small non-domestic (€/customer)	129.83	221.66	214.5	248.78	318.6	143.64	124.2	256.92	163.55	0.00
Medium/Large commercial (€/kVa)⁶	18.47	34.2	33.14	40.01	43.68	15.84	14.64	33.36	19.61	0.00
¹These fuels were subject to temporary Excise rate reductions in 2022 and 2023. The rates shown for these years are averages.
²Rates on petrol and road diesel were increased on 8/10/2019, 12/10/2020, 13/10/2021, 12/10/2022, 11/10/2023; rates on LPG, marked gas oil, fuel oil, kerosene and natural gas were increased on 1st May each year from 2019 to 2023. The rate shown is the rate that applied for the majority of the calendar year.
³Introduced on 1/5/2013 and increased on 1/5/2014, 1/5/2020, 1/5/2021, 1/5/2022, and 1/5/2023. The rate shown is the rate that applied for the majority of the calendar year.
⁴The NORA Levy was temporarily reduced to zero from 12/10/2022 until 28/2/2023. The rates shown for 2022 and 2023 are averages across the calendar year.
⁵The PSO Levy rates are applied from October 1^st of the previous year to September 30th of the year under which the rate is shown. For example, the rates shown under 2013 cover 1/10/2012 until 30/09/2013. The 2023 PSO Levy was negative, meaning a zero rate was applied in effective carbon rate calculations.
⁶The PSO Levy is charged to Medium/Large commercial consumers per kilovolt-amp (kVA) of maximum import capacity. Domestic and other small users are charged per electricity account.

Open in Excel: Fossil Fuel Subsidies 2023 Table 1.5 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 1.2A Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2023					€ per litre
	Petrol	Road diesel	Kerosene for Household Heating	Marked Gas Oil for Household Heating	Marked Gas Oil for Agricultural Use
Total Energy Tax per Litre	0.53	0.46	0.13	0.15	0.15
of which Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)	0.41	0.32	0.00	0.00	0.00
of which Carbon Tax	0.11	0.12	0.11	0.13	0.13
of which NORA Levy	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02

Table 1.2B Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2022					€ per litre
	Petrol	Road diesel	Kerosene for Household Heating	Marked Gas Oil for Household Heating	Marked Gas Oil for Agricultural Use
Total Energy Tax per Litre	0.52	0.44	0.11	0.14	0.14
of which Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)	0.41	0.32	0.00	0.01	0.01
of which Carbon Tax	0.09	0.10	0.09	0.11	0.11
of which NORA Levy	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02

Table 1.2C Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2021					€ per litre
	Petrol	Road diesel	Kerosene for Household Heating	Marked Gas Oil for Household Heating	Marked Gas Oil for Agricultural Use
Total Energy Tax per Litre	0.63	0.53	0.09	0.16	0.16
of which Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)	0.54	0.42	0.00	0.05	0.05
of which Carbon Tax	0.08	0.09	0.07	0.09	0.09
of which NORA Levy	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02

Table 1.3 Fuel Excise Volumes used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2014-2023										Thousand litres
Fuel¹	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Petrol	1,483,192	1,417,134	1,334,857	1,249,735	1,097,546	1,043,084	772,693	824,697	931,364	1,009,613
Road diesel	2,846,887	3,105,597	3,330,228	3,571,370	3,589,262	3,678,892	3,167,384	3,397,827	3,607,234	3,627,770
Road LPG	3,587	4,320	4,270	3,830	3,149	2,770	1,954	1,981	2,720	2,661
Aviation gasoline	967	982	1,035	965	848	950	961	978	808	916
Marked gas oil	997,528	1,014,307	1,044,189	1,054,636	1,086,672	1,092,504	1,134,349	1,173,168	1,148,812	1,101,245
Fuel oil	60,466	58,029	55,418	58,074	49,488	44,999	41,282	35,196	33,871	23,685
Kerosene	856,821	1,014,784	1,049,661	1,088,674	1,148,910	1,068,064	1,256,626	1,106,619	922,352	918,064
Other LPG	227,116	244,976	263,451	298,030	324,752	330,332	326,810	350,741	341,230	359,018
¹There are no excise volumes data available for jet kerosene due to the exemption for commercial aviation

Table 1.4 Emission Factors and Conversion Factors used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2023
Fuel	Specific Volume (Litres per tonne)	Net Calorific Value (NCV) (Megajoule per tonne)	Emission Factor (t CO₂/TJ)¹
Petrol	1,350	44,589	70.0
Diesel/Gas oil	1,183	43,308	73.3
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)	1,915	47,156	63.7
Fuel oil	1,062	41,236	76.0
Kerosene	1,250	44,196	71.4
Coal		27,842	94.6
Milled peat		5,427	132.1
Natural gas		35.67 MJ/m³	56.7
¹The unit of measurement for emission factors is tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per Terajoule of energy from combustion

Fossil Fuel Subsidies 2023

Effective Carbon Rates

Effective Carbon Rates

Petrol tax per tonne of carbon dioxide rose by 2% to €225 in 2023

Editor's Note

Average Effective Carbon Rates

Average Effective Carbon Rates 2021-2023

Average Effective Carbon Rates by Sector

Net Energy Tax per Litre

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Table 1.1 Average Effective Carbon Rate by Sector, 2014-2023
€ per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted
Sector	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Transport Fuels
Petrol	256	257	256	239	258	259	267	269	220	225
Road diesel	181	183	184	172	184	183	190	196	164	170
Road LPG¹	61	62	62	59	60	54	55	58	60	100
Jet kerosene	1	2	2	2	5	8	1	5	26	29
Aviation gasoline	204	215	215	212	210	242	187	177	144	170
Rail diesel	36	37	37	34	38	39	43	51	43	47
Rail electricity	30	42	39	49	47	23	35	47	11	4
Marine diesel	6	6	6	5	6	7	8	9	7	4
Marine fuel oil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Non-transport Fuels
Electricity Generation	6	7	5	6	15	23	23	50	75	78
Industry	13	14	13	12	12	12	13	15	19	24
Services	26	27	27	25	25	24	30	36	37	45
Agriculture and Fishing	44	46	46	40	45	46	52	62	52	59
Household Heating	23	25	25	24	25	25	28	36	37	44
Electricity Consumption	23	30	29	38	43	24	31	40	9	1
¹The increase in the average effective carbon rate for road LPG in 2023 is due to a significant increase in net receipts reported by Revenue.