The number of new private electric cars licensed in 2025 rose by 36% when compared with 2024 (23,398 vs 17,191). This means the share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new private cars in 2025 was 19% compared with 15% in 2024.
The number of new private cars licensed in December 2025 fell by 20% when compared with December 2024 (838 vs 1,044).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 49% in December 2025 when compared with December 2024 (5,508 vs 3,706).
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in December 2025 grew by 28% when compared with December 2024 (100 vs 78). The share of PHEVs among new private cars in 2025 was 15%, up from 9% in 2024.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to December 2025 fell in comparison with 2024 (43% vs 54%).
Tesla was the most popular make of new private car licensed in December 2025.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed decreased by 7% in December 2025 compared with December 2024. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed went up by 2% over the same period.
Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:
| Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class | |||||||||
| Taxation Class | December | January - December | |||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 1,044 | 838 | -206 | -20% | 116,683 | 120,797 | 3,728 | 4% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 632 | 839 | 207 | 33% | 30,802 | 32,223 | -789 | 5% | |
| New Tractors | 61 | 85 | 24 | 39% | 2,131 | 2,464 | 139 | 16% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 52 | 74 | 22 | 42% | 2,760 | 2,729 | -72 | -1% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 109 | 91 | -18 | -17% | 6,371 | 6,575 | 290 | 3% | |
| New Other | 97 | 75 | -22 | -23% | 2,348 | 2,774 | 286 | 18% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 1,995 | 2,002 | 7 | 0% | 161,095 | 167,562 | 3,582 | 4% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 3,706 | 5,508 | 1,802 | 49% | 61,838 | 71,604 | 9,766 | 16% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 773 | 918 | 145 | 19% | 10,978 | 12,463 | 1,485 | 14% | |
| Used tractors | 152 | 193 | 41 | 27% | 2,566 | 2,740 | 174 | 7% | |
| Used motorcycles | 120 | 152 | 32 | 27% | 2,759 | 2,801 | 42 | 2% | |
| Used other vehicles | 381 | 464 | 83 | 22% | 6,498 | 7,039 | 541 | 8% | |
| Total used vehicles | 5,132 | 7,235 | 2,103 | 41% | 84,639 | 96,647 | 12,008 | 14% | |
| Total all vehicles | 7,127 | 9,237 | 2,110 | 30% | 245,734 | 264,209 | 15,590 | 6% | |
In 2025, 19% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| X-axis label | Petrol | Diesel | Electric | PHEV | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | 34 | 8 | 7 | 18 |
| 2022 | 30 | 27 | 15 | 7 | 20 |
| 2023 | 33 | 22 | 19 | 8 | 17 |
| 2024 | 31 | 23 | 15 | 9 | 22 |
| 2025 | 26 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 23 |
| X-axis label | Number of new electric private cars | Percentage of all new private cars |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8554 | 8 |
| 2022 | 15462 | 15 |
| 2023 | 22493 | 19 |
| 2024 | 17191 | 15 |
| 2025 | 23398 | 19 |
| Most popular makes of new cars, December 2025 | |
| Tesla | 21 |
| Volkswagen | 12 |
| Toyota | 7 |
| Audi | 7 |
| Other | 47 |
| Skoda | 6 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, December 2025 | |
| KiaEV 4 | 2 |
| TeslaModel 3 | 35 |
| Audie-Tron | 2 |
| TeslaModel Y | 31 |
| BYDSealion 7 | 2 |
| Other | 27 |
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year old | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1-2 years old | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| 3-5 years old | 56 | 36 | 29 | 27 | 25 |
| 6-9 years old | 25 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 39 |
| Over 10 years old | 7 | 14 | 19 | 23 | 26 |
Check the rankings of new vehicles for the most recent month as well as year
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 (13 January 2026) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for December and Year 2025.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 36% increase in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in 2025 (23,398 versus 17,191). This is despite a fall of 35% in the number of new private EVs licensed in December 2025 when compared with December 2024 (264 versus 405). We saw growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 28% from 78 in December 2024 to 100 new private cars in December 2025. Annually, we saw a rise of 65% in the number of PHEVs licensed for the first time in 2025 compared with 2024 (18,237 versus 11,060).
In the year 2025, there were 31,221 new petrol cars licensed compared with 36,433 in 2024, a fall of 14%. The number of new diesel cars licensed decreased by 23% (20,562 vs 26,728) over the same period.
The total number of used (imported) private cars licensed in December 2025 rose by 49% compared with the same period in 2024 (5,508 vs 3,706). There were 1,303 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in December 2025, compared with 1,041 in the same period of 2024. Used (imported) private petrol cars licensed increased by 36% in December 2025 compared with December 2024 (2,122 vs 1,564).
Most Popular Makes
Data also shows that Tesla was the most popular make of new private car licensed in December 2025 at 175 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (101), Toyota (60), Audi (55), and Skoda (52). Together, these five makes represented 53% of all new private cars licensed in December 2025 (See Table 4).
Toyota was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in 2025.
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in December 2025 was Tesla Model 3 (92), followed by Tesla Model Y.
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in 2025 was Volkswagen ID.4 (See TEM28 for further information).”