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Vehicles licensed for the first time January 2023

Number of new electric cars licensed for the first time in January 2023 increased by 40% compared with January 2022

Online ISSN: 2009-5678
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Key Findings

  • The number of new cars licensed in January 2023 rose by 973 vehicles (6%) compared with January 2022.

  • In January 2023, 15% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric compared with 11% in January 2022.

  • One fifth of new private cars licensed in January 2023 were diesel which was the same as in January 2022.

  • The number of used cars licensed in January 2023 decreased by 9% compared with January 2022 (3,362 versus 3,686).

  • There were 1,280 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in January 2023, compared with 1,584 in January 2022, a fall of 19%.

  • Toyota (3,293) was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in January 2023.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (08 February 2023) published Vehicles licensed for the first time for January 2023.

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 and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland. The number of new electric cars licensed has increased by 40% from 1,813 in January 2022 to 2,531 in January 2023. In January 2023, 5,819 new cars licensed were petrol cars compared with 4,342 in January 2022.

Used Private Cars

There were 3,362 used (imported) private cars licensed in January 2023 compared with 3,686 in January 2022. There were 1,280 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in January 2023, compared with 1,584 in January 2022, a fall of 19%. The total number of used vehicles licensed in January 2023 was down 7% compared with January 2022. (See table 1)

Most Popular Car Brands

Data also shows that Toyota (3,293) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in January 2023, followed by Hyundai (2,357), Volkswagen (1,499), Skoda (1,276) and Kia (1,153). Together, these five makes represent more than half (57%) of all new private cars licensed in January 2023. (See table 4)”

Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:

  • Vehicles registered in the latter part of a particular month may not be licensed until a later month because of the time lapse between registration and first licensing.
  • In some cases, a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale.
  • Registered vehicles which are not used in a public place (e.g. tractors for use exclusively on the land) may not need to be licensed.

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.

Tables and Graphs

Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in January 2019 to 2023

Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time
 January
 20222023Change
New private cars15,81416,7879736%
New goods vehicles1,7282,19246427%
Other new vehicles1,1641,32416014%
Total new vehicles18,70620,3031,5979%
     
Used private cars3,6863,362-324-9%
Used goods vehicles640634-6-1%
Other used vehicles747704-43-6%
Total used vehicles5,0734,700-373-7%
Figure 1 Private Cars Licensed for the first time
Table 2 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class

Most popular makes of new cars, January 2023
Toyota 20
Hyundai 14
Volkswagen 9
Skoda8
Kia6.9
Other43
Most popular makes of new cars, January 2022
Toyota 23
Hyundai 13
Volkswagen 7
Skoda6
Kia7
Other44
Table 3: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January 2023

Table 4: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, January 2023

X-axis labelUnadjusted dataAdjusted dataTrend
January 201825813103229958
February 2018165011040410065
March 2018160881002010123
April 201811557963910113
May 201893621013210035
June 2018371699659911
July 201820743104589733
August 2018768194479493
September 2018439788889202
October 2018287477228927
November 2018164788848782
December 2018778106288827
January 20192227990449053
February 20191417891269389
March 20191440499189717
April 201913794104319943
May 2019912698329985
June 20193858101609800
July 20191874192739446
August 2019720290249047
September 2019410475058707
October 2019321481398489
November 2019167683048383
December 201972985908375
January 20202066586438447
February 20201326384268552
March 20201023968737032
April 2020133810621067
May 2020149016942696
June 2020218952445241
July 20201532977797875
August 2020736090319197
September 2020574791049522
October 20204189100669917
November 20201468657810295
December 202010321092310565
January 20211694878177632
February 20211167273847636
March 20211067268097625
April 2021821468967655
May 2021733785977737
June 20214980115287848
July 202120232108327962
August 2021856396008034
September 2021635492038055
October 2021388286988043
November 2021216787928018
December 202183284037992
January 20221581478117980
February 20221364383957990
March 20221187281688028
April 20221004582228135
May 2022712081718338
June 2022377487458629
July 20221507883148955
August 2022894293509234
September 2022731598029390
October 2022452796179371
November 202223539150
December 20228668916
January 2023167878364
Table 5 Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class

X-axis label20192020202120222023 January
<1 year old22110
1-2 years old18181176
3-5 years old5056563632
6-9 years old2620254242
Over 10 years old5571421
Table 6: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time

Table 7: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type