Austria leads CEE for most new cars, Estonia regional laggard

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The number of battery-only electric passenger cars in the EU neared 3mn in 2022, up 55% from 1.9mn in 2021, according to the EU’s official statistics office Eurostat.

In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Austria has the highest ratio of cars under two years of age, with 13%. Older cars are most commonplace in Estonia, where 34% are at least 20 years old.

In the decade from 2013-22, the highest year-on-year rise came in 2020, when a 85% annual increase occurred, followed by the 78% climb in 2021.

Battery-only electric passenger cars remain niche, however, despite the huge percentage growth over a decade, as the total number grew from 0.02% in 2013 to 1.19% in 2022.

Battery-only electric passenger cars in the EU, 2013-22/ Source: Eurostat

The overall share of battery-only electric passenger cars is expected to grow considerably over the coming years in the run-up to a EU-wide ban on the sale of new cars with combustion engines in 2035, linked to the Sustainable Development Indicator.

When it comes to the total number of passenger cars (running on petrol or diesel including hybrids; or on all types of alternative energy including battery-only), it has grown in almost all of the EU members over the last five years, reaching a total of nearly 253 million passenger cars in 2022 (+14% compared with 2013).

The highest share of cars aged 2 years or less in the EU member states was in Luxembourg (18%), followed by Germany and Sweden (15%), and Belgium, Ireland and Austria (13%).

Age of Passenger Cars, 2022/ Source: Eurostat

After Estonia, cars of 20 years or older were most common in Romania (31%), Finland (30%), Poland (29%) and Portugal (26%).

CET Editor

Recent Posts

CEE mulls ramifications of Trump’s victory on trade, defence, environment

As Donald Trump officially declared his victory in the US election, he received congratulations from…

3 days ago

‘Budapest Declaration’ signed as Orban hosts EU summit

European leaders committed to developing a defence industry base and enhancing EU competitiveness at an…

3 days ago

EU, South Korea expand security, defence links

The EU and the Republic of Korea formalised a comprehensive Security and Defence Partnership in…

4 days ago

PKN Orlen CEE’s top firm on Coface 500 list

Poland is the dominant country in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) business landscape, with…

4 days ago

To the victor go the spoils – the big winners and losers of Trump’s second presidency – CET op-ed

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, no stranger to political brinkmanship, went all in on Donald…

1 week ago

Moldova pivots to EU in presidential vote

Moldovan President Maia Sandu defeated her pro-Russian rival Alexandr Stoianoglo by around 55% to 45% in the presidential second-round…

1 week ago