08 June 2020
Go to release: Vehicles licensed for the first time May 2020
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (08 June 2020) published Vehicle Licensing figures for May 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 May 2020 was 1,490 compared to 9,126 in May 2019, a drop of 83.7%. The number of new cars licensed in the first five months of 2020 was 46,995, compared to 73,781 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 May 2020. In the first five months of this year, the number of new cars licensed was 26,786 lower than in the same period of 2019, a drop of 36.3%.
However, the number of new cars licensed in May 2020 is up slightly on April 2020, from 1,338 to 1,490. Comparing today’s CSO figures with the recently published Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) figures, it is important to note that over half of new cars licensed in May 2020 were registered before May.'
Today’s figures from the CSO also show the continuing increase in the relative share of electric and hybrid vehicles. In the first five months of 2020, almost 1 in 5 new cars licensed was a hybrid or electric. This compares with 1 in 8 for the same period last year. The number of hybrid cars licensed in the period was 7,132 compared to 6,903 in 2019 (+3.3%).
New car registrations, as reported by SIMI, fell to 1,751 in May 2020. From January to May 2020 there was a drop of 34.6% in the number of cars registered to 51,904 compared with 79,350 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 email transport@cso.ie
or email olive.loughnane@cso.ie
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