5. Excise Duties

Excise Duties revenue reached €23.08 billion, 4.3% more than in 2024, mainly due to regulatory changes (Table 5.1). On the one hand, 2025 was the first full year when the Electricity Excise Duty rate stood at 5.11%, following its cut to 0.5% in September 2021 and its gradual recovery in 2024. On the other hand, the increase in rates in the Tobacco Excise Duty took effect from 1 January 2025. Furthermore, the new Tax on Liquids for Electronic Cigarettes came into force in 2025, although its impact on collection was minor (€30 million). Excluding revenue from regulatory changes, that amount to €831 million (Table 1.5) the rise in revenue from Excise Duties would be of only 0.6%. Out of the rest of the figures, the 4.8% increase in the Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Packaging, the 0.5% growth in the Hydrocarbons Excise Duty and the 3.4% fall in alcohol duties as a whole, are worth noting.

The value of consumptions subject to Excise Duties grew by 1.4% following two years of declines (Table 1.3). This shift in trend is explained by the higher value of the consumptions of elements with the greatest weight in the total, such as electricity (6.1%) and tobacco (1.5%), both driven by higher prices and, in the case of electricity, also by an increase of consumption (3.2%; Table 5.7). As for tobacco, consumption decreased by 4.5% (Table 5.6), due to the combined effect of higher prices and the hoarding process that took place at the end of 2024, prior to the expected rate hike.

Also the value of the consumption of hydrocarbons dropped (-1.9%), as a result of falling prices (Table 9.1) and despite the 2% rise in consumption (Figure 5.1), as it was the case for the value of the consumptions of alcohol and beer, due to a 1.3% fall in the consumption of alcoholic beverages and a 1.6% of beer.

Energy prices followed different paths in 2025. Thus, the average price of gasoline and diesel-oils continued the downward trend seen on previous years, with a fall of 3.9% (5.7% before taxes; Table 9.1), lower than that recorded by the oil barrel price in euros, which decreased by 17.4% (contrary to what happened in 2024, when the decline in gasoline and diesel-oil prices was higher than that of the barrel in euros). However, the retail price of electricity increased by 8.8%, well above the pre-tax price which increased by only 2% (Table 5.7). This is because, for the entire fiscal year 2025, VAT and Electricity Excise Duty rates were at their normal levels, compared to only part of the fiscal year 2024.

As for tobacco, the average retail price increased by 7.1% (5.5% before tax, Table 9.2), with increases in the average prices of both packages (6% the average retail price and 2.9% the price before taxes) and other works (11.9% the average retail price and 9.3% the rice before taxes). The higher increase in retail prices compared to pre-tax prices is explained by the increase in rates that entered into force on 1 January and that affected all tobacco products.

Finally, prices of alcoholic beverages increased slightly, by 0.1%, with no change in their price before taxes (Table 5.2) and those of beer increased by 1.1% (1.2% before taxes, Table 5.3).

The average effective tax rate of Excise Duties increased, primarily due to regulatory changes. Firstly, 2025 was the first full year since 2021 when the Electricity Excise Duty rate stood at 5.11%, following its complete recovery since July 2024. Secondly, the increase in rates in the Tobacco Excise Duty took effect from 1 January 2025. This, coupled with the rising pre-tax prices, increased the effective tax rate by 7.8%, with important differences across products: while the effective tax rate on cigarettes increased by 6.7%, that of other tobacco works enlarged by 14.5%.

Although with less impact on the aggregate average tax rate, in 2025 the effective rate of gasoline, diesel-oil and biofuels also increased slightly (0.4%), resulting from the change in the composition of consumption, as the consumption of gasoline, taxed at a higher rate, increased above the consumption of other fuels.

Accrued Excise Duties increased by 3.8% in 2025 (Table 5.1) driven by the three main tax figures. On the one side, the accrued Hydrocarbon Excised Duty enlarged by 2.3%, thanks to the performance of consumptions. On the other side, the rates hike in the Tobacco Excise Duty allowed a 3% rise in the accrued tax, despite the downturn of consumption. And, finally, the full recovery of the Electricity Excise Duty rate, together with higher prices and consumption, led to a 28.3% in the accrued tax.

Revenue from the Hydrocarbons Excise Duty, that accounts for more than half of total collection, grew slightly, by 0.5%, amounting to €12.37 billion (Table 5.5 and Figure 5.1). The rate is lower than that recorded by consumption, which enlarged by 2%, and that, together with the modest increase of the average effective tax rate, explain the 2.3% in the accrued tax. In terms of consumption, there are significant differences across products, with increases of 7.8% for gasoline and just 0.1% for diesel-oil, which corresponds, in the absence of rate changes, with the variations in the accrued tax of these products and with the gradual replacement of diesel-oil vehicles. There are several factors that explain the mismatches between accrued taxes and cash receipts. On the one hand, the effect of the foral adjustments, that added almost €100 million less to cash revenue than in 2024. On top of that, in 2025 receipts arising from temporary sifts were also lower. Finally, the presence of extraordinary refunds reduced net collection even more. Revenue from self-assessments, which better reflect the developments of consumption, increased by 1.8%, just a few tenths below 2024.

Tobacco Excise Duty receipts increased by 6% (Table 5.6 and Figure 5.2), up to €7.34 billion. €365 million, out of the €413 additional revenue, come from the rate hike, so without it, revenues would have been only slightly higher than in 2024. That small increase would have come from the rise in pre-tax prices, as consumption in 2025 fell by 4.5%, affected by higher prices, but also by the hoarding process that took place at the end of 2024 prior to the rate hike. This episode is precisely what explains the difference between the growth of the accrued tax (3%) and the cash receipts: the sharp increase in consumption that was recorded at the end of 2024 was reflected in the accrued tax of 2024 and in the cash receipts of 2025.

The new Tax on Liquids for Electronic Cigarettes collected €30 million euros in its first year. It was in force since April and collection stabilized from July at just over €4 million per month.

Electricity Excise Duty to reached €1.59 billion (Table 5.7 and Figure 5.3). The strong growth, 42.8% compared with 2024, was mainly due to the recovery of the 5.11% tax rate, in force throughout 2025, whereas in 2024 it was only in force from July. This differential effect added €436 million to collection, which was also favoured by higher consumption (3.2%) and by the increase in prices before taxes. Removing the impact of the recovery of the rate, the increase in revenue would be reduced to 3.6%, a rate close to the evolution of consumption. In any case, the level reached, which is already comparable with the rest of the series, is the all-time high. A close figure was reached only in 2012 (€1.51 billion), but revenues in the five years prior to 2020 were around €1.35 billion. The difference with the result in 2025, with a consumption below that year’s, gives an idea of the jump in prices.

Receipts from the Excise Duty on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages and from the Excise Duty on Beer decreased in 2025, 3.8% and 2.8% respectively (Tables 5.2 and 5.3) as a result of the fall of consumptions (-1.3% and -1.6%, respectively) and of the mismatches between accrued taxes and cash receipts.

The Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Packaging collected €599 million, 4.8% more than in 2024. The year was marked by the lower amount of refunds (which explains around two points of the growth in net receipts) and by the greater dynamism shown by imports (with increases close to 7%) compared to domestic operations (with a decrease close to 1%).

Finally, there is left the marginal revenue of the Carbon Tax, €9 million, less than half of what was collected in 2024.