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Transport Bulletin July 2021

Fuel, Vehicles and Safety

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Fuel excise clearances

Source: Office of the Revenue Commissioners

The Revenue Commissioners collect statistics on the volumes of fuel clearances covered by excise taxes. Clearances reflect the excise duties paid on oil removed from tax warehouses. Clearances data provide a proxy for sales and the associated level of consumption but do not reflect actual consumption per se.

Clearances of unleaded petrol in May 2021 were nearly 50% higher than the level in May 2020 indicating a substantial increase in car traffic relative to the levels at the start of the pandemic. Despite the increase, May 2021 clearance volumes of petrol were still 24% below May 2019.

There was a large increase of 47% for clearances of autodiesel in May 2021 compared with the levels in May 2020. Similar to petrol, levels of autodiesel have not reached pre-pandemic figures, as May 2021 clearance volumes were 11% below May 2019. See table 2.1 and figure 2.1.

See full release Fuel excise clearances May 2021.

	Autodiesel 2019	Autodiesel 2020	Autodiesel 2021	Petrol 2019	Petrol 2020	Petrol 2021
January	292	298	197	83	79	38
February	281	295	213	78	77	42
March	308	281	262	88	68	56
April	312	139	273	91	25	65
May	325	198	290	93	47	70
June	298	248	87	58
July	316	297	92	78
August	308	283	90	76
September	308	300	87	77
October	323	280	87	62
November	316	262	84	53
December	293	286	83	72

Table 2.1 Monthly excise clearances of autodiesel and unleaded petrol (million litres)

Vehicles Licensed

Source: Department of Transport

In the first half of 2021, a total of 59,823 new private cars were licensed, an increase of 21.6% compared with the same period last year but still 22.9% lower than in 2019. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed increased by 50.3% compared with the same period in 2020 and is still 22.7% lower when compared to 2019.

Figures for new cars licensed rose above 2019 levels for the first time this year. In June 2021, 4,980 new private cars were licensed in Ireland, compared with 2,189 in June 2020. The number of new cars licensed in June 2021 is 29.1% higher than June 2019 when 3,858 cars were licensed.

The number of used (imported) private cars licensed rose from 3,738 in June 2020 to 5,900 in June 2021. However, the number of used (imported) private cars licensed is still 2,098 vehicles lower in June 2021 than in June 2019. See Vehicles licensed for the first time June 2021.

	2019	2020	2021
January	22279	20665	16948
February	14178	13263	11672
March	14404	10239	10672
April	13794	1338	8214
May	9126	1490	7337
June	3858	2189	4980
July	18741	15329
August	7202	7360
September	4104	5747
October	3214	4189
November	1676	1468
December	729	1032

Table 2.2 Number of private cars licensed for the first time

Road Fatalities

Source: Road Safety Authority

There were 58 fatalities on Irish roads in the first half of 2021 compared with 71 in the same period in 2020, a drop of 18.3%. In June 2021 there were 11 fatalities on Irish roads compared with 12 in June 2020.

Note: data is provisional.

Table 2.3 Number of road fatalities per month

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Table 2.2 Number of private cars licensed for the first time
Month	New private cars				Used/imported private cars						All private cars
Month	2019	2020	2021	Change	2019	2020	2021	Change	2019	2020	2021	Change
January	22,279	20,665	16,948	-3,717	8,131	7,683	8,126	443	30,410	28,348	25,074	-3,274
February	14,178	13,263	11,672	-1,591	8,674	7,087	6,679	-408	22,852	20,350	18,351	-1,999
March	14,404	10,239	10,672	433	9,101	5,582	6,590	1,008	23,505	15,821	17,262	1,441
April	13,794	1,338	8,214	6,876	8,728	1,321	6,241	4,920	22,522	2,659	14,455	11,796
May	9,126	1,490	7,337	5,847	9,062	1,170	6,426	5,256	18,188	2,660	13,763	11,103
June	3,858	2,189	4,980	2,791	7,998	3,738	5,900	2,162	11,856	5,927	10,880	4,953
July	18,741	15,329			9,203	8,275			27,944	23,604
August	7,202	7,360			9,320	8,032			16,522	15,392
September	4,104	5,747			9,868	9,300			13,972	15,047
October	3,214	4,189			10,941	9,543			14,155	13,732
November	1,676	1,468			9,874	7,892			11,550	9,360
December	729	1,032			7,995	8,918			8,724	9,950
Year to date	113,305	84,309	54,843		108,895	78,541	34,062		222,200	162,850	88,905

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Fuel, Vehicles and Safety

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Table 2.1 Monthly excise clearances of autodiesel and unleaded petrol (million litres)
	Autodiesel				Unleaded petrol
Year	2019	2020	2021	2021-2019 % change	2019	2020	2021	2021-2019 % change
January	292	298	197	-32.5	83	79	38	-54.1
February	281	295	213	-24.0	78	77	42	-46.2
March	308	281	262	-15.0	88	68	56	-35.9
April	312	139	273	-12.5	91	25	65	-28.1
May	325	198	290	-10.6	93	47	70	-24.5
June	298	248			87	58
July	316	297			92	78
August	308	283			90	76
September	308	300			87	77
October	323	280			87	62
November	316	262			84	53
December	293	286			83	72
January to December	3,679	3,167			1,043	773
Source: Office of the Revenue Commissioners

Table 2.3 Number of road fatalities per month
	2019¹	2020¹	2021¹
January	14	9	5
February	14	19	5
March	11	18	10
April	9	7	19
May	11	6	8
June	11	12	11
July	8	10
August	8	15
September	18	18
October	10	13
November	11	12
December	15	8
Total	140	147	58
Source: Road Safety Authority
¹ Data is provisional and subject to change