You could win one of two €100 One4All vouchers. (5–10 minutes)
Take our short Customer Satisfaction Survey and tell us how we can improve. You could win one of two €100 One4All vouchers. (5–10 minutes)
Fossil fuel subsidies were €4.67 billion in 2024, down 6% from €4.98 billion in 2023.
Temporary energy support measures, first introduced in 2022 in response to rising energy prices, amounted to €0.94 billion in 2024. This represents a 46% reduction from 2023.
The revenue forgone, or the amount of potential tax revenue not collected, due to the excise exemption for jet kerosene (used in commercial aviation) was €0.72 billion in 2024, representing an increase of 19% from 2023. The reduced excise rate on road diesel when compared to the petrol excise rate led to €0.37 billion in forgone revenue in 2024.
The carbon charge for consumers of petrol and road diesel both increased 22% in 2024 to €274 and €207 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, respectively.
Consumers of marked gas oil (used in agriculture and fishing) paid €76 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted in 2024, a 31% increase on 2023 levels.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (18 September 2025) published Fossil Fuel Subsidies 2024.
Commenting on the release, Dr. Rósín Byrne, Statistician in the Environment Division, said: "Total fossil fuel subsidies in 2024 were €4.67 billion, down from €4.98 billion in 2023 and €4.74 billion in 2022. Total fossil fuel subsidies in 2024 represent an increase of 63% when compared to 2021, when fossil fuel subsidies were €2.86 billion in current prices (See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1).
Fossil Fuel Subsidies
In 2022, a number of temporary measures were introduced by the Government in response to rises in energy prices. The temporary measures included direct subsidies to households and businesses to reduce energy costs, as well as tax rate reductions on fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel. The total amount in fossil fuel subsidies resulting from these measures was estimated at €1.10 billion in 2022 and €1.73 billion in 2023. Some of these measures were no longer in operation in 2024 while others were notably reduced, and the value reduced to €0.94 billion (See Table 2.2).
Relative to modified gross national income (GNI*), fossil fuel subsidies went from 1.2% of GNI* in 2021 to 1.5% in 2024. The maximum since 2014 was reached in 2022, where fossil fuel subsidies represented 1.8% of GNI* (See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1).
Effective Carbon Rates
The average effective carbon rate of a fuel is the amount of energy tax, such as excise and carbon tax, paid by consumers per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted through combustion of the fuel.
The highest average effective carbon rate per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2024 was €274 for petrol, followed by road diesel at €207. Both rates increased by 22% compared to 2023, exceeding the levels seen before the 18% decrease observed in 2022 (see Figure 1.1 and Table 1.1).
The road diesel rate is lower than the petrol rate due to a lower excise duty rate. The average effective carbon rate for marked gas oil, sometimes referred to as ‘green diesel’, used in agriculture, forestry, and fishing was €76 per tonne of carbon dioxide due to the lower excise duty rates.
The recent increase in the average effective carbon rates is due to the removal of temporary excise and National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) levy rate reductions introduced in 2022, coupled with increases in carbon tax on these fuels. This was also observed for aviation gasoline, rail diesel, and marked gas oil used in agriculture and fishing.
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.
Net Energy Tax per Litre
This release also contains data on net average energy taxes per litre on selected fuels. In 2024, net energy taxes on petrol were 65 cent per litre, of which 51 cent was excise duty (excluding carbon tax), 12 cent was carbon tax, and 2 cent was the NORA levy. Net energy tax per litre on road diesel was 56 cent per litre (See Figure 1.2 and Table 1.2A).”