Eurostat data show that western EU countries recorded higher motorisation rates (passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants) than central and eastern EU members. However, at a regional level, there were significant disparities in car ownership within the EU.
Between 2001 and 2021, Romania registered the highest average annual growth rate of passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants (motorisation rate) among the EU members (+5.4%), followed by Poland (+4.5%).
At the opposite end of the scale, Malta and the Netherlands (both +0.9%), Spain (+0.8%), France and Italy (both +0.7%), Belgium and Austria (both +0.5%), Germany and Luxembourg (both +0.4%), and Sweden (+0.3%) were the countries recording average annual growth rates below 1 %.
In general, the Baltic, eastern and central European EU countries registered stronger growths than western EU countries between 2001 and 2021.
More data is aviailable in this article on the stock of vehicles at the regional level.
