China only ended solar panel export subsidy this month.
Oil is directly subsidized in most oil producing countries. Go look at what fuel costs in Saudi Arabia or Nigeria, vs what they could sell it for on international markets. That's a subsidy.
Jet fuel is universally exempt from tax. Try finding any other energy source that is.
Yes some places choose to lower fuel taxes. But that's not really a subsidy is it.
(And tbf nor is my mentioned Chinese solar panel export subsidy as it was actually a GST/VAT rebate).
But in many cases there is an alternative to air travel, at least for short distances. I don't really understand why railways (at least in the UK) such ridiculously expensive. Return flights from London to Edinburgh start at £30, train tickets between the same cities start at £100. A return ticket from a station in 50 miles from London is more than £65 (peak times).
There isn't an alternative for water, electricity and food. Easy to find places where the former two are taxed, the latter is taxed effectively everywhere.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/09/23/Sti...
So $400b. Still a lot.
But I really should locate a more recent version of this report...
https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/12/20/und...
In 2024 they found $725bn in explicit subsides, plus $6.7tn in implicit subsidies.
