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10 August 2020
Go to release: Vehicles licensed for the first time July 2020
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 August 2020) published Vehicle Licensing figures for July 2020. These figures are based on the National Vehicle and Driver File compiled by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Today’s publication shows that the number of new cars licensed for the first time in July 2020 was 15,329 compared to 18,741 in July 2019, a drop of 18.2%. The number of new cars licensed in the first seven months of 2020 was 64,513 compared to 96,380 in 2019.
Commenting on the data, Olive Loughnane, Statistician, said:
‘The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the number of vehicles licensed continued to be felt in the month of July 2020. In the first seven months of this year, the number of new cars licensed was 31,867 lower than in the same period of 2019, a drop of 33.1%.
Comparing today’s CSO figures with the recently published Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) figures, it is important to note that 7.2% of new cars licensed in July 2020 were registered before July.'
Further commenting on the results, Olive Loughnane said:
‘Today’s figures from the CSO also show the continued growth in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland. Despite the drop of more than 33.1% in the overall number of new cars licensed from January to July 2020, the number of new hybrid cars licensed grew by 5.0% from 9,413 to 9,883. There were 2,360 new electric cars licensed in the first seven months of 2020, a fall of 95 vehicles when compared with the same period in 2019.’
New car registrations, as reported by SIMI, were 21,213 in July 2020. From January to July 2020, there was a decrease of 29.8% in the number of cars registered to 74,069 compared with 105,439 for the same period in 2019.
The monthly licensing (CSO) figures and the registration figures (SIMI) differ due to the different dates on which a vehicle is registered (number plate) and licensed (tax disc). A vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale, and vehicles which are registered in a given month may not be licensed until a later month.
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.
Olive Loughnane (+353) 21 453 5281 or Noreen Dorgan (+353) 21 453 5260
or email transport@cso.ie
or email olive.loughnane@cso.ie
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