Eurostat today publishes data on “green” taxes which shows impressive growth in Greece, in the order of 50%.
In detail, revenues from environmental taxes in the EU in 2022 amounted to 317,2 billion euros, from 330,2 billion in 2021. This is a decrease of -4% (-13 billion euros), while in general the amount is equivalent to 2% of The GDP of Europe, he said European Statistical Service
On the contrary, in Greece, revenues from “green” bills have increased significantly: From 7.7 billion euros in 2021, they approach 11.6 billion in 2023, an amount equivalent to an increase of more than 50 %.
Eurostat: The “green” energy taxes were reduced by 15.1 billion
In Europe, in general, Eurostat says, the long-term increase in environmental tax revenues has returned – after a severe reduction in the pandemic years (2020-2021). However, 2022 is considered an exception, due to the state of the energy market. At the pan-European level the reduction in total environmental tax revenue from 2021 to 2022 is mainly due to the €15.1 billion reduction in energy tax revenue. In total energy taxes amount to €243 billion in 2022 across the EU.
Pollution and resource taxes have increased
In contrast, pollution and resource taxes increased by 10% (+€1.2 billion) and transport taxes registered a slight increase of 1% (+€809 million)
According to Eurostat, at the pan-European level, more than half of the income from environmental taxes (52%) comes from business contributions. Most of this corporate contribution comes from companies in the manufacturing, construction, mining and utilities sectors (26%) and the services sector (24%). Households contribute 45% of the total environmental tax revenue.
What do households pay?
In 17 EU countries households pay more than 40% of total environmental tax revenue, from 60% in Denmark to almost 40% in Malta. At the national level, businesses contribute on average more than 50% of total tax revenue in most EU countries.
What happened in Greece?
In Greece, the Eurostat survey says, households pay more than 3.4 billion euros in environmental taxes in 2022, from 3.18 in 2021. This is about 30% of the total “green” taxes. As a result, companies paid about 8.1 billion euros, from 4.4 billion euros in 2021 – an amount increased by 84%.