Romania recorded a 5.6% increase in passenger cars between 2003 and 2023, the highest in the European Union, new data from Eurostat has found.
According to the data, other countries to report a large increase in passenger car numbers over the 20-year period include Estonia (+3.6%) and Poland (+3.6%).
At the other end of the scale, Luxembourg (+0.2%) and Sweden (+0.2%) saw the smallest increase in passenger cars over the two-decade period, with low growth also seen in countries such as Germany (+0.4%), Malta (+0.5%), Belgium (+0.5%) and Austria (+0.6%).
‘In general, the Baltic, eastern and central EU countries have registered stronger growths over the 2003-2023 period than western European countries,’ Eurostat noted.
Passenger cars per EU resident
As of 2023, there was an average rate of 0.55 passenger cars per EU resident, with the highest regional rate of car ownership (1.5 cars) more than seven times that of the lowest (0.2), the data showed.
Six of the top ten regions with the highest motorisation rates were located in northern Italy, while other capital regions – or regions located close to major urbanised areas – such as Flevoland (Netherlands), Attiki (Greece) and Praha (Czechia), also boasted high rates.
Electric vehicle ownership
In terms of electric vehicle ownership, northern regions including Flevoland and Stockholm boasted the highest rates, of 17.1% and 10.7%, respectively.
Elsewhere, Hovedstaden (Denmark) and Utrecht (The Netherlands), both recorded shares of electric passenger cars above 8%, while several southeastern European regions, including regions in Greece and Poland, had a share of electric passenger cars close to zero in 2023.
‘The share of electric passenger cars can be linked to different factors such as governmental incentives (like tax reductions or subsidies), the availability and access to recharging stations, as well as the offer of electric passenger cars and their cost,’ Eurostat added. Read more here.
