Press Statement

Preasráiteas

10 May 2021

Go to release: Vehicles licensed for the first time April 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 May 2021) published Vehicle Licensing figures for April 2021. These figures are based on the National Vehicle and Driver File compiled by the Department of Transport.

Today’s publication shows that the number of new cars licensed for the first time in April 2021 was 8,214 compared with 1,338 in April 2020, an increase of 514% or 6,876 more cars.

Commenting on the data, Nele van der Wielen, Statistician, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vehicle licensing in Ireland. Despite significant recovery from the immediate impact of initial lockdowns in April 2020, the number of vehicles licensed remains below comparable pre-COVID-19 (April 2019) figures. The number of new cars licensed in April 2021 showed a 514% increase on those licensed in April 2020, but still represents a 41% decrease on the numbers of new cars licensed in April 2019.

The figures further show increasing popularity of new electric and hybrid cars. Almost a third (32%) of all new cars licensed in the first four months of 2021 are electric and hybrid cars, compared with less than a fifth (19%) of new cars licensed in the first four months of 2020.”

Further commenting on the results, Nele van der Wielen, said: “Over the first four months of the year we have seen an increase in used car licensing. The number of used cars licensed in the first four months of 2021 rose by 28% (5,963 vehicles) compared with the same period in 2020. Furthermore, the number of used (imported) diesel private cars licensed rose by 12% from 14,715 in the first four months of 2020 to 16,435 in the same period of 2021.”

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