Cars per 1,000 inhabitants in the EU countries
Topic: Transport
Italy has 1.6 times as many cars per inhabitant as Latvia.
In 2025, the EU as a whole had 584 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. The cars are counted at the end of the year.
- Figures for:
- 2025.
- Covers:
- one day.
- New data:
- once a year.
- Dataset updated:
- 6 October 2026.
Published 1 November 2026, updated 6 November 2026
The ranking
In 2025, the motorisation rate was highest in Italy, at 709 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, and lowest in Latvia, at 435 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.
Motorisation rate, cars per 1,000 inhabitants
2025About the data
The number of passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants (the motorisation rate).
Eurostat: “Among the EU countries with the highest 2025 motorisation rates, i.e. passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants” (source)
The main source is the 'Eurostat/ITF/UNECE Common Questionnaire on Inland Transport Statistics'. Some gaps have been filled in with estimates from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO) or from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Some public sources (NSI websites, Open data) have been used as well.
How to read these numbers
How it is measured
Some national gaps are filled with estimates from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory or the car manufacturers' association (ACEA), or from public sources such as national statistical offices' websites.
Countries report these data voluntarily and collect them in different ways, and vehicle registers can include very old cars that are no longer on the road.
Provisional figures
A provisional value (flag p) may still be revised. This concerns Belgium (2025), Cyprus (2025), France (2025), Greece (2025), Italy (2025), Portugal (2025) and Spain (2025).
Estimates
A value with flag e is an estimate, not measured or counted in full. This concerns Greece (2025) and Romania (2025).
Values imputed by Eurostat
An imputed value (flag i) was filled in by Eurostat or another receiving agency. This concerns France (2025), Ireland (2025) and Poland (2025).
Sources and data
Eurostat, Passenger cars - per thousand inhabitants (road_eqs_carhab). Data updated 6 October 2026, retrieved 3 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Eurostat metadata · Eurostat methodology
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/road_eqs_carhab?format=JSON&lang=en&freq=A&geo=AT&geo=BE&geo=BG&geo=CY&geo=CZ&geo=DE&geo=DK&geo=EE&geo=EL&geo=ES&geo=EU27_2020&geo=FI&geo=FR&geo=HR&geo=HU&geo=IE&geo=IT&geo=LT&geo=LU&geo=LV&geo=MT&geo=NL&geo=PL&geo=PT&geo=RO&geo=SE&geo=SI&geo=SK&unit=NRRelated stories
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