In 2022, there were on average 0.56 passenger cars per inhabitant in the EU – same as in 2021. Behind this figure, notable regional differences emerge, stretching from 2.34 in Valle d’Aosta, Italy, to 0.08 in Mayotte, France.
This information comes from data on transport statistics published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on the stock of vehicles at the regional level.
Regional rates of motorisation (passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants) are often linked to economic conditions but can also be affected by specific circumstances. For example, Valle d’Aosta’s record rate was influenced by favourable taxation rules.
In 2022, the top 3 regions with the highest motorisation rate were in Italy: Valle d’Aosta with 2 339 cars per 1 000 inhabitants was followed by Provincia Autonoma di Trento with 1431 cars per 1 000 inhabitants and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano with 935 cars per 1 000 inhabitants. Among the 10 regions with the highest motorisation rate, 6 were in Italy, and 1 in Finland, Greece, the Netherlands and Czechia.
Source dataset: trans_r_vehst
At the other end of the range, French overseas region Mayotte (83 passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants) was followed by Greek Peloponnisos (203 per 1 000 inhabitants) and French Guyane (217 per 1 000 inhabitants). Of the 10 regions with the lowest motorisation rate, 4 were in Greece, 2 were in France, 2 in Romania, and 1 in Germany and Austria. Notably, 2 among these were metropolitan areas of Berlin (331) and Wien (366).
Highest share of electric cars: Netherlands & Sweden
Regions in the Netherlands and Sweden stood out among the EU regions with the highest share of electric passenger cars in all cars. The highest shares were recorded in Flevoland (12.8%) and Utrecht (6.6%) in the Netherlands, and in Stockholm (6.6%) in Sweden. In the top 10, 4 were regions in the Netherlands, 4 in Sweden, Luxembourg (1 region), and 1 in Austria.
Source dataset: tran_r_elvehst
With shares of electric cars close to zero, 7 regions in Greece, and 1 in Czechia, Poland and Spain were at the other end of the range.
