PARIS - New data show that fossil fuel subsidies reached USD 731.6 billion in 2021, almost doubling from 2020. The figures show a big increase in consumption subsidies, driven by rising fuel prices, rebounding economic activity, and emergency measures put in place to deal with fuel price spikes. This is part of the wider OECD effort to address environmentally harmful subsidies.

The OECD provides a platform to help governments evaluate their allocation of scarce budgetary resources to fossil fuels and their alignment with environmental and well-being goals. To do so, the OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels documents and estimates government measures that encourage fossil-fuel production or consumption relative to renewable alternatives. The latest edition of the Inventory includes around 1 500 support measures in 51 OECD, G20 and EU Eastern Partnership economies. In addition, the OECD and the IEA produce a combined estimate of fossil fuel support over a greater number of countries.

Every few years, OECD publishes Companions to the Inventory, which report on developments in trends, peer-reviews in G20 countries, offering recommendations for fossil fuel subsidy reform, and country-specific data and analysis.