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Fossil Fuel Subsidies 2024

Effective Carbon Rates

Carbon cost on petrol (€274 per tonne of carbon dioxide) and diesel (€207 per tonne of carbon dioxide) rose by 22% 2024

Online ISSN: 2737-7334

CSO statistical release, 18 September 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 System (EU-ETS). Temporary changes to many of these energy tax rates were implemented in 2022, 2023, and part of 2024.

Average Effective Carbon Rates

Average Effective Carbon Rates 2022-2024

Figure 1.1 shows average effective carbon rates by sector from 2022 to 2024. The average effective carbon rates on petrol and road diesel both rose by 22% in 2024. The charge on petrol increased to €274 per tonne of carbon dioxide, while the charge on diesel rose to €207 per tonne of carbon dioxide. Both are now higher than before the reductions in 2022.

Other fuels, such as aviation gasoline, rail diesel, and marked gas oil used in agriculture and fishing, also saw their carbon charges increase in 2024, again exceeding pre-2022 levels.

These increases reflect the end of temporary excise and NORA Levy rate reductions that were introduced in 2022 in response to rises in energy prices. The energy tax rate reductions outweighed increases in carbon tax on these fuels during the affected years.

In contrast to these increases, the average effective carbon rates on jet kerosene and on fuels used to generate electricity fell in 2024. The charge on jet kerosene decreased from €29 to €24 per tonne of carbon dioxide, while the charge on electricity generation fuels fell from €78 to €55 per tonne of carbon dioxide. Both decreases resulted from a decrease 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 2024, the effective carbon rate on petrol was €274 per tonne of carbon dioxide, while the diesel rate was €67 lower at €207 per tonne of carbon dioxide. The rate on marked gas oil used in agriculture and fishing was €76 and the rate on jet kerosene was €24 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 2024).

Table 1.1 shows average effective carbon rates by sector for 2015-2024. 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	2022	2023	2024
Road Petrol	220	225	274
Road Diesel	163	170	207
Jet Kerosene	26	29	24
Aviation Gasoline	144	170	202
Marine Diesel	7	4	9
Electricity Generation Fuels	75	78	55
Agriculture and Fishing Diesel	50	58	76
Household Heating Fuels	31	38	45

Table 1.1 Average Effective Carbon Rate by Sector, 2015-2024

Net Energy Tax per Litre

Figure 1.2 and Tables 1.2A-C show net average energy taxes per litre on selected fuels. In 2024, net energy taxes on petrol were 65 cent per litre, up from 53 cent per litre in 2023. Net energy taxes on road diesel also increased in 2024, with a value of 56 cent per litre compared with 46 cent per litre in 2023.

Net energy taxes on petrol were made up of excise duty (excluding carbon tax) of 51 cent per litre, carbon tax of 12 cent per litre, and NORA Levy of 2 cent per litre.

Temporary excise rate reductions were removed in 2024 and carbon tax on all fuels in Tables 1.2A-C increased between 2022 and 2024.

	NORA Levy	Carbon Tax	Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)
Petrol	0.015	0.12	0.51
Autodiesel	0.015	0.14	0.4
Household Kerosene	0.015	0.13	0
Household MGO	0.015	0.15	0.03
Agricultural MGO	0.015	0.15	0.03

Table 1.2A Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2024

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

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

Table 1.3 Fuel Excise Volumes used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2015-2024

Table 1.4 Emission Factors and Conversion Factors used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2024

Table 1.5 Energy Tax Rates used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2015-2024

Table 1.5 Energy Tax Rates used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2015-2024
	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
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	440.53	395.50	499.94
Road diesel¹	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	425.72	348.64	315.18	395.00
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	12.85	8.08	34.97
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	1.00	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	59.85	77.52	94.87	112.23	129.59
Road diesel	53.3	53.3	53.3	53.3	53.3	69.18	89.66	109.74	129.81	149.89
Road LPG	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	42.48	54.68	66.93	79.17	91.42
Marked gas oil	54.92	54.92	54.92	54.92	54.92	70.42	90.81	111.14	131.47	151.58
Fuel oil	61.75	61.75	61.75	61.75	61.75	80.27	103.23	126.34	149.45	172.56
Kerosene	50.73	50.73	50.73	50.73	50.73	65.74	84.84	103.83	122.83	141.82
Other LPG	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	32.86	42.48	54.68	66.93	79.17	91.42

Natural Gas Carbon Tax (€ per tonne CO₂)²	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	26.00	33.50	41.00	48.50	56.00

Solid Fuel Carbon Tax (€ per tonne CO₂)³
Coal	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	26.00	33.50	41.00	48.50	56.00
Peat	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	26.00	33.50	41.00	48.50	56.00

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

PSO Levy⁵
Domestic (€/customer)	64.37	60.09	70.75	92.28	41.76	34.08	78.24	51.66	0.00	0.00
Small non-domestic (€/customer)	221.66	214.5	248.78	318.6	143.64	124.2	256.92	163.55	0.00	0.00
Medium/Large commercial (€/kVa)⁶	34.2	33.14	40.01	43.68	15.84	14.64	33.36	19.61	0.00	0.00
¹These fuels were subject to temporary Excise rate reductions in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The rates shown for these years are averages.
²Rates on petrol and road diesel were increased on 08/10/2019, 12/10/2020, 13/10/2021, 12/10/2022, 11/10/2023, 09/10/2024; rates on LPG, marked gas oil, fuel oil, kerosene and natural gas were increased on 1st May each year from 2019 to 2024. The rate shown is the rate that applied for the majority of the calendar year.
³Introduced on 1/5/2013 and increased on 01/05/2014, 01/05/2020, 01/05/2021, 01/05/2022, 01/05/2023, and 01/05/2024. 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 2015 cover 1/10/2014 until 30/09/2015. 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 2024 Table 1.5 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 1.2A Net Energy Taxes per Litre on Selected Fuels, 2024					€ 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	0.65	0.56	0.15	0.20	0.20
of which Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)	0.51	0.40	0.00	0.03	0.03
of which Carbon Tax	0.12	0.14	0.13	0.15	0.15
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, 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	0.11	0.15	0.15
of which Excise (excl. Carbon Tax)	0.40	0.32	0.00	0.00	0.00
of which Carbon Tax	0.11	0.12	0.09	0.13	0.13
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, 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 1.3 Fuel Excise Volumes used in Effective Carbon Rate Calculations, 2015-2024										Thousand litres
Fuel¹	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Petrol	1,417,134	1,334,857	1,249,735	1,097,546	1,043,084	772,693	824,697	931,364	1,009,613	1,067,423
Road diesel	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	3,563,126
Road LPG	4,320	4,270	3,830	3,149	2,770	1,954	1,981	2,720	2,661	1,248
Aviation gasoline	982	1,035	965	848	950	961	978	808	916	646
Marked gas oil	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	1,166,974
Fuel oil	58,029	55,418	58,074	49,488	44,999	41,282	35,196	33,871	23,685	12,053
Kerosene	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	972,769
Other LPG	244,976	263,451	298,030	324,752	330,332	326,810	350,741	341,230	359,018	271,677
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, 2024
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. .. Not applicable

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Fossil Fuel Subsidies 2024

Effective Carbon Rates

Effective Carbon Rates

Carbon cost on petrol (€274 per tonne of carbon dioxide) and diesel (€207 per tonne of carbon dioxide) rose by 22% 2024

Editor's Note

Average Effective Carbon Rates

Average Effective Carbon Rates 2022-2024

Average Effective Carbon Rates by Sector

Net Energy Tax per Litre

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Table 1.1 Average Effective Carbon Rate by Sector, 2015-2024
€ per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted
Sector	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Transport Fuels
Petrol	257	256	239	258	259	267	269	220	225	274
Road diesel	183	184	172	184	183	190	196	163	170	207
Road LPG¹	62	62	59	60	54	55	58	60	100	96
Jet kerosene	2	2	2	5	8	1	5	26	29	24
Aviation gasoline	163	165	203	149	161	169	177	123	170	202
Rail diesel	36	36	34	38	38	43	50	43	47	66
Rail electricity	42	39	49	47	23	35	46	11	4	12
Marine diesel	6	6	5	7	8	8	9	7	4	9
Marine fuel oil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Non-transport Fuels
Electricity Generation	7	5	6	15	23	23	50	75	78	55
Industry	10	9	9	9	9	10	13	14	17	18
Services	23	22	20	21	20	23	28	28	35	41
Agriculture and Fishing	45	46	40	44	45	51	59	50	58	76
Household Heating	21	21	20	22	22	25	30	31	38	45
Electricity Consumption	30	29	38	43	24	31	40	9	1	11
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.