Britain will probably have to introduce new taxes to compensate for the loss of revenues from its shift away from fossil fuels which will hit government income currently raised by fuel duty, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

"The largest impacts of the transition on the public finances will stem from permanent changes to behaviour that feed through to the tax system," the ministry said. "Primary among these is the loss of significant amounts of tax revenue as the economy shifts away from the use of fossil fuels."

Fuel duty and vehicle excise duty revenues amounted to 37 billion pounds ($51.2 billion) in the 2019/20 financial year, equivalent to 1.7% of economic output, it said.

($1 = 0.7231 pounds)

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Kate Holton)