A notable upswing in the adoption of eco-friendly vehicles was seen in 2023 Cyprus, the Cyprus Statistical Service (CSS) said on Monday.

In total, passenger saloon registrations reached 36,608, a slight dip from the 37,802 recorded in 2019.

However, hybrid passenger vehicles witnessed a substantial surge, with registrations soaring from 1,884 in 2019 to 10,189 in 2023.

Electric saloon registrations experienced an even more remarkable multiplication, escalating from a mere 54 in 2019 to 995 in 2023.

Conversely, while diesel registrations dropped, falling to 3,749 from 16,977 in the same period, diesel saloons touched 21,043 from 18,977.

Among brands, Toyota emerged as the leader in 2023 with 6,667 registrations, followed by Mazda with 4,194, Nissan with 3,056, BMW with 1,956 and Mercedes with 1,941.

In addition, more used vehicles were registered than new. Used saloon car registrations reached 21,971 in 2023 compared to 14,637 new saloon cars. The growth in used cars is a continuation of a trend observed in previous years, where used vehicles consistently outpaced new ones.