About 48 per cent of new registrations of passenger cars in Cyprus were hybrid and electric cars in 2023 (mainly hybrid), compared to 48 per cent in the EU, reflecting the development of this market in the country despite the overall low percentage of usage of electric cars, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

More specifically, in 2023, 10.7 million new passenger cars were registered in the EU. Among them, the pure petrol cars had the highest share (34.5 per cent), followed by non-plug-in hybrid petrol-electric cars (21.1 per cent), battery-only electric cars (14.5 per cent) and pure diesel cars (14.3 per cent).

After the rapid growth in battery-only electric car registrations between 2013 and 2023, the combined share of all hybrid and battery-only electric vehicles in 2023 matched that of pure petrol and pure diesel cars (48.3 per cent vs. 48.8 per cent).

Eurostat did not provide corresponding comparable percentages for all member states. However the overall share of new hybrid and electric cars in Cyprus in 2023 stood a little below 48 per cent according to a graph shared by Eurostat. The large majority of these cars were hybrid.

In nine EU countries the share of hybrid and electric passenger cars in new registrations exceeded 50 per cent in 2023.

The highest shares were reported in Finland (78 per cent), with 44 per cent hybrid and 34 per cent electric, Sweden (69 per cent), with 30 per cent hybrid and 39 per cent electric, and the Netherlands (68 per cent), with 37 per cent hybrid and 31 per cent electric.

In contrast, Bulgaria recorded the lowest share with 7 per cent, followed by Czechia (20 per cent) and Croatia (28 per cent).