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Environmental taxes by economic activity (NACE Rev. 2) (env_ac_taxind2)

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National Reference Metadata in Single Integrated Metadata Structure (SIMS)

Compiling agency: Statistics Denmark

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Data presents environmental tax revenue (by tax category - energy, transport, pollution and resource taxes) broken down by economic activity (tax payer), using the NACE classification for production activities extended to cover taxes payable by households and non-residents.

The public revenue from green taxes provides a coherent description of the extent of the green taxes charged directly to industries and households. The tax base of green taxes consists of physical entities (or substitutes for them) that have a documented, specifically negative impact on the environment. The main purpose of green taxes in Denmark is to reduce pollution and resource consumption.

20 May 2025

 The environmental tax statistics are compiled based on Eurostat’s 2013 'Environmental taxes - a statistical guide'. Environmental tax is defined as "A tax whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of a physical unit) of something that has a proven, specific negative impact on the environment, and which is identified in ESA2010 as a tax".

Environmental tax statistics are part of European environmental economic accounts, which constitute satellite accounts to national accounts. Thus, environmental tax statistics follows ESA2010 definition of ‘taxes’. Consequently, only payments that are identified as taxes in the national accounts can be reported as environmental taxes whereas other types of payments to government are not excluded from the scope of the data collection. Compliance with the tax definition of the national accounts improves international comparability of the statistics, and is in line with the guidance, concepts and definitions of the System of environmental and economic accounting (SEEA).

Data refer to environmental taxes collected by the government and payable by the different economic agents.

The target population are all production sectors by NACE, households as consumers and non-residents.

The statistics cover Denmark. Greenland and The Faroe Islands are not included.

The data refer to the calendar years.

The accuracy of the figures for total revenues of different types of environmental taxes is high, as this is based on the State Accounts. Accuracy of the breakdown by industries is good but not as high as for the totals, as the sources are the supply and use tables, as well as energy and water accounts. These tables and accounts are generally reliable, but they are build from incomplete sources using also estimates and 'best guesses'. 

Million National Currency (MNAC)

The processing of data for this statistics largely consists of sorting and aggregation of revenue by environmental purpose and category, real-economic type, branches and sub-sectors. On the basis of this categorisation and aggregation, the figures are presented in different environmental areas of action, according the real economic type as well as in subsectors of the public sector. The statement is consolidated within state, municipalities, regions and public corporations.

The source material for the statistics is the public finances, as they are stored, after national accounts coding, in the database DIOR (Database for Integrated Public Accounts). Using selected expenses and revenue from DIOR, tables are compiled to cover the main subject areas of these statistics. For a more detailed description of DIOR, see the statistical documentation for accounts for general government.

The payment of the environmentally related product taxes are generally allocated to industries and households etc. by using the detailed supply and use tables of the Danish national accounts. The supply and use tables include for each of approximately 3000 products information on the taxes less subsidies paid by industries and final demand categories in relation to their use of the specific product.

Annual statistics.

The statistics is published with high timeliness and punctuality. The statistics is usually published without delay in relation to the scheduled date.

The figures in these statistics are submitted to Eurostat and are thus made available for comparison with corresponding statistics for the other EU countries.

The green taxes are transmitted via ETEA (Environmental Taxes by Economic Activity) and follows the Eurostat manual Environmental taxes - A statistical guide.

The statistics date back to 1995 and have been prepared in accordance with the European System of National Accounts, ESA 2010. The overall methodological approach has been maintained for all years. In 2018, however, several adjustments have been made to percentage estimates, relocations of items between different environmental activities, as well as a minor revisions of accounting policies have been performed. In the transmission of 2018, an improved method for allocation of motor vehicle registration duties using investment matrices from the Danish national accounts is implemented. This method was already implemented for 2016 and onwards as part of the previous transmission This results in revisions for transport taxes 2008-2015. Other minor revisions in other taxes due to small corrections including some negative values. An improved distribution from the Danish Energy Accounts cause revisions in the distribution of some energy taxes 2017-2018. In the transmission of 2019 an improved distribution of the CO2-emissionstax (emission permits) was implemented for the years 2013 and forward. The source for the new distribution is the energy account.

The green taxes have since 2013 been compiled in accordance with the new EU legislation in this area. In 2013, the time series back to 1995 was recalculated with new methods according to ESA 2010. The green taxes are thus comparable in an international perspective. It is pointed out that the statistics do not take price development into account, which has an impact on the comparability of the statistics over time.