Cyprus Stands Out in EU Car Statistics

Cyprus is among the top European Union countries in car ownership, with 658 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants – an increase of 19.85 per cent over the past decade – according to the latest Eurostat announcement.

In comparison to the EU average of 560 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, Cyprus joins Italy, Luxembourg and Finland at the forefront. Italy leads with 684 cars, followed closely by Luxembourg at 678 and Finland at 661.

An evident trend emerges in central and eastern EU countries, with a growth in car ownership between 2012 and 2022. Romania leads with an 86.2 per cent increase, marking the highest spike in passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Estonia.

Regarding fuel preferences, Eurostat’s data indicates that in 11 of the 23 EU member states surveyed in 2022, over half of the cars on the road are petrol-powered. The Netherlands takes the lead in this category, with 85.2 per cent of petrol cars, followed by Cyprus at 78.2 per cent, Finland at 72.6 per cent and Denmark at 68.6 per cent.

Diesel cars lead in Lithuania, Latvia, Ireland, Portugal, Croatia, Spain, France, Austria, Romania and Slovenia, all exceeding 50 per cent. Contributions from alternative fuels are observed in Italy (10.0 per cent), Sweden (8.3 per cent) and Lithuania (7.1 per cent).