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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

08 December 2021

Vehicles licensed for the first time November 2021

Number of new cars licensed in November 2021 was 48% higher than November 2020
  • The number of new cars licensed in November 2021 increased by 699 vehicles compared with November 2020 and rose by 491 vehicles compared with pre-pandemic November 2019
  • In the first 11 months of 2021, 16% of all new cars licensed were electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) compared to 7% in the first 11 months of 2020
  • The number of used (imported) private cars licensed almost halved (-45%), falling from 7,892 in November 2020 to 4,324 in November 2021

Go to release: Vehicles Licensed for the first time November 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (08 December 2021) published Vehicle Licensing figures for November 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 November 2021 was 2,167 compared with 1,468 in November 2020 and 1,676 in November 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 November 2021 rose by 699 vehicles compared with November 2020 and increased by 491 vehicles when compared with November 2019.

In the first 11 months of 2021, a total of 101,021 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 11 months of 2021 is still visible as figures remain 10% lower than the same 11 months in 2019.

Unlike new cars licensed, the number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased in the first 11 months of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. A total of 64,657 used private cars were licensed, a decrease of 7% compared with the same period last year and a decrease of 36% compared with 2019.

Electric cars continue to grow in popularity as 8% of all new cars licensed in the first 11 months of 2021 were electric cars (8,414), compared with 5% of new cars licensed in the first 11 months of 2020. A further 8% of new car sales were plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

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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