Passenger cars per inhabitant stable in 2023

In 2023, there were on average 0.55 passenger cars per inhabitant in the EU, down 0.1 percentage points compared with 2022. This information comes from data on regional transport statistics published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on stock of vehicles at 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, the Valle d’Aosta’s record rate was influenced by favourable taxation rules. In 2023, the top 3 regions with the highest motorisation rate were in Italy: Valle d’Aosta with 2 295 passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants, Provincia Autonoma di Trento with 1 521 cars per 1 000 inhabitants and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen with 915 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.