Overall, the passenger car fleet in almost all of the EU members has grown over the last five years, reaching a total of 253 million passenger cars in 2021 (+17% compared with 2013).
In Latvia in 2021 there were 758,668 cars registered and Eurostat's statistics showed that in 2021 Latvia had 404 cars per thousand inhabitants, just ahead of Romania on 400.
In 2021, amongst the EU Member States with the highest motorisation rates, i.e. passenger cars per thousand inhabitants, there are several smaller countries. Nonetheless, Poland (687 passenger cars per thousand inhabitants) heads the list; this is mostly due to the high proportion of very old vehicles that may remain registered.
In second place follows Luxembourg with 682 cars per thousand inhabitants; however, this figure may be influenced by cross-border workers (i.e., not inhabitants) using company cars registered in the country and by other elements like the difference on taxation of cars compared with neighbouring countries such as Belgium. Other countries with a high motorisation rate include Italy (675 cars), Finland (656 cars), and Cyprus (655 cars).
Petrol power continues to be comfortably the most popular choice for Latvian drivers as far as new cars are concerned, accounting for around 60% of new cars. However, among all cars in Latvia, petrol engines account for less than 30% of the total stock and diesels around 65%.
Most cars in Latvia are relatively old, with around three quarters of vehicles being at least 10 years old.
