There was a slight decrease in the number of new cars licensed in 2022 (101,349) compared with 2021 (101,853).
The number of used cars licensed in 2022 decreased by 32% compared with 2021 (46,567 versus 68,042).
The number of new electric cars licensed has increased by 81% from 8,554 in 2021 to 15,462 in 2022.
In 2022, 27% (27,188) of new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 34% (34,396) in 2021.
There were 16,370 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in 2022, compared with 36,495 in 2021, a fall of 55%.
Toyota (15,318) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in 2022.
The most popular model of new private car licensed in 2022 was Hyundai Tucson followed by Toyota Yaris, Toyota Corolla, and Kia Sportage. See Ireland's Top Motors.
Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:
Seasonally adjusting the Vehicle Licensing series during the COVID-19 crisis period will be challenging until the scale and shape of its impact on the time series is better understood. The initial seasonally adjusted results might be revised for some months ahead as future observations become available. Users should be aware that there is increased uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during this period.
Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in 2018 to 2022.
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time | |||||||||
December | January - December | ||||||||
2021 | 2022 | Change | 2021 | 2022 | Change | ||||
New private cars | 832 | 866 | 34 | 4% | 101,853 | 101,349 | -504 | 0% | |
New goods vehicles | 697 | 859 | 162 | 23% | 28,387 | 23,655 | -4,732 | -17% | |
Other new vehicles | 259 | 315 | 56 | 22% | 12,136 | 12,244 | 108 | 1% | |
Total new vehicles | 1,788 | 2,040 | 252 | 14% | 142,376 | 137,248 | -5,128 | -4% | |
Used private cars | 3,385 | 2,886 | -499 | -15% | 68,042 | 46,567 | -21,475 | -32% | |
Used goods vehicles | 580 | 573 | -7 | -1% | 10,631 | 8,063 | -2,568 | -24% | |
Other used vehicles | 657 | 610 | 47 | -7% | 13,288 | 10,823 | -2,465 | -19% | |
Total used vehicles | 4,622 | 4,069 | -553 | -12% | 91,961 | 65,453 | -26,508 | -29% |
Most popular makes of new cars 2021 | |
Toyota | 15 |
Hyundai | 12 |
Volkswagen | 11 |
Kia | 7 |
Skoda | 7 |
Other | 47 |
Most popular makes of new cars 2021 | |
Toyota | 12 |
Hyundai | 10 |
Volkswagen | 12 |
Kia | 6 |
Skoda | 8 |
Other | 51 |
X-axis label | Unadjusted data | Adjusted data | Trend |
---|---|---|---|
December 2017 | 601 | 8804 | 9829 |
January 2018 | 25813 | 10316 | 9953 |
February 2018 | 16501 | 10397 | 10059 |
March 2018 | 16088 | 10015 | 10119 |
April 2018 | 11557 | 9644 | 10112 |
May 2018 | 9362 | 10131 | 10037 |
June 2018 | 3716 | 9969 | 9917 |
July 2018 | 20743 | 10463 | 9742 |
August 2018 | 7681 | 9457 | 9503 |
September 2018 | 4397 | 8912 | 9210 |
October 2018 | 2874 | 7730 | 8929 |
November 2018 | 1647 | 8878 | 8778 |
December 2018 | 778 | 10621 | 8816 |
January 2019 | 22279 | 9023 | 9037 |
February 2019 | 14178 | 9098 | 9371 |
March 2019 | 14404 | 9918 | 9700 |
April 2019 | 13794 | 10462 | 9933 |
May 2019 | 9126 | 9817 | 9982 |
June 2019 | 3858 | 10163 | 9809 |
July 2019 | 18741 | 9297 | 9469 |
August 2019 | 7202 | 9070 | 9081 |
September 2019 | 4104 | 7556 | 8742 |
October 2019 | 3214 | 8181 | 8514 |
November 2019 | 1676 | 8339 | 8392 |
December 2019 | 729 | 8604 | 8370 |
January 2020 | 20665 | 8533 | 8433 |
February 2020 | 13263 | 8411 | 8536 |
March 2020 | 10239 | 6886 | 7017 |
April 2020 | 1338 | 1069 | 1067 |
May 2020 | 1490 | 1691 | 2702 |
June 2020 | 2189 | 5244 | 5264 |
July 2020 | 15329 | 7842 | 7937 |
August 2020 | 7360 | 9119 | 9295 |
September 2020 | 5747 | 9228 | 9635 |
October 2020 | 4189 | 10193 | 10024 |
November 2020 | 1468 | 6657 | 10361 |
December 2020 | 1032 | 11043 | 10561 |
January 2021 | 16948 | 7556 | 7563 |
February 2021 | 11672 | 7393 | 7526 |
March 2021 | 10672 | 6858 | 7500 |
April 2021 | 8214 | 6983 | 7548 |
May 2021 | 7337 | 8595 | 7677 |
June 2021 | 4980 | 11551 | 7850 |
July 2021 | 20232 | 11006 | 8023 |
August 2021 | 8563 | 9736 | 8151 |
September 2021 | 6354 | 9402 | 8223 |
October 2021 | 3882 | 8895 | 8248 |
November 2021 | 2167 | 9025 | 8245 |
December 2021 | 832 | 8652 | 8225 |
January 2022 | 15814 | 7290 | 8202 |
February 2022 | 13643 | 8489 | 8178 |
March 2022 | 11872 | 8284 | 8167 |
April 2022 | 10045 | 8364 | 8223 |
May 2022 | 7120 | 8209 | 8387 |
June 2022 | 3774 | 8806 | 8666 |
July 2022 | 15078 | 8517 | 9011 |
August 2022 | 8942 | 9516 | 9338 |
September 2022 | 7315 | 10064 | 9565 |
October 2022 | 4527 | 9911 | |
November 2022 | 2353 | 9508 | |
December 2022 | 866 | 9346 |
X-axis label | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
<1 year old | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1 |
1-2 years old | 18.3 | 17.6 | 17.7 | 11.4 | 7 |
3-5 years old | 50.8 | 50.3 | 56.3 | 56 | 36 |
6-9 years old | 24.4 | 25.6 | 19.8 | 24.9 | 42 |
Over 10 years old | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 14 |
More detailed statistics on Vehicle Licensing can be found under “Data”.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 January 2023) published Vehicles licensed for the first time for December and Year 2022.
Commenting on the data, Nele van der Wielen, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show the continued growth in the number of electric cars licensed in Ireland. The number of new electric cars licensed increased by 81% from 8,554 in 2021 to 15,462 in 2022. At the same time, the number of new diesel cars decreased. In 2022, 27,188 new cars licensed were diesel cars compared with 34,396 in 2021.
Used Private Cars
There were 46,567 used private cars licensed in 2022 compared with 68,042 in 2021. The total number of used vehicles licensed in 2022 was down 29% compared with 2021. (See table 1)
Most Popular Car Brands
Data also shows that Toyota (15,318) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in 2022, followed by Hyundai (11,869), Volkswagen (11,428), Kia (7,549), and Skoda (7,153). Together, these five makes represent more than half (53%) of all new private cars licensed in 2022. (See table 4).
Of new electric cars licensed in 2022, the top make and model was Volkswagen ID.4 (2,920) followed by Hyundai Ioniq (1,249), and Tesla Model 3 (1,054).
Monthly data
Licensing figures also show that the number of new cars licensed in December 2022 rose by 4% or by 34 vehicles compared with December 2021.”