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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

08 November 2021

Press Statement Vehicles licensed for the first time October 2021

Number of new cars licensed in October 2021 was 7% lower than October 2020
  • The number of new cars licensed in October 2021 decreased by 307 vehicles compared with October 2020 and rose by 668 vehicles compared with pre-pandemic October 2019
  • In the first 10 months of 2021, 16% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) compared to 7% in the first 10 months of 2020
  • The number of used (imported) private cars licensed halved, falling from 9,543 in October 2020 to 4,506 in October 2021

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

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (08 November 2021) published Vehicle Licensing figures for October 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 October 2021 was 3,882 compared with 4,189 in October 2020 and 3,214 in October 2019.

Commenting on the data, Nele van der Wielen, Statistician, said: “Today’s release from the CSO shows that the number of new cars licensed in October 2021 fell by 307 vehicles compared with October 2020 but increased by 688 vehicles when compared with October 2019.

In the first 10 months of 2021, a total of 98,854 new private cars were licensed, an increase of 21% compared with the same period last year. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the first 10 months of 2021 is still visible as figures remain 11% lower in comparison with the same 10 months in 2019.

Unlike new cars licensed, the number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased in the first 10 months of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. A total of 60,333 used private cars were licensed, a decrease of 2% compared with the same period last year and a decrease of 34% compared with 2019.

Electric cars continue to grow in popularity, as 8% of all new cars licensed in the first 10 months of 2021 were electric cars (8,089), compared with 5% of new cars licensed in the first 10 months of 2020.”

Editor's Note:

Vehicle registration:

A vehicle is registered when the vehicle registration tax due on the vehicle is paid to the Revenue Commissioners. Revenue then issue a registration number for the vehicle.

Vehicle licensing:

A vehicle is licensed when the annual car tax due on the vehicle is paid for the first time.

For further information contact:

Dr Nele van der Wielen (+353) 21 453 5379 or Noreen Dorgan (+353) 21 453 5260

or email transport@cso.ie

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