The total number of new private cars licensed in May 2026 rose by 32% when compared with May 2025 (11,063 vs 8,403).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed grew by 22% in May 2026 when compared with May 2025 (7,519 vs 6,144). The share of electric vehicles (EVs) among used (imported) cars from January to May 2026 was 10% compared with 4% in the same period of 2025.
The number of new private electric cars licensed in May 2026 rose by 118% when compared with May 2025 (3,010 vs 1,382). This means the share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new private cars from January to May 2026 was 24% compared with 16% in the same period of 2025.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in May 2026 decreased by 2% in comparison with May 2025 (1,389 vs 1,419). The year-to-date share of PHEVs in 2026 among new private cars was comparable with 2025 at 15%.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to May 2026 was down in comparison with 2025 (34% vs 44%).
Overall, Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in May 2026, while the Volkswagen ID.4 was the most popular make of electric car.
The number of new goods vehicles was down by 9% in May 2026 when compared with May 2025 (3,135 vs 3,453).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed was up 11% in May 2026 compared with April 2026. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 1% 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 | May | January - May | |||||||
| 2025 | 2026 | Change | 2025 | 2026 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 8,403 | 11,063 | 2,660 | 32% | 72,702 | 76,014 | 3,312 | 5% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 3,453 | 3,135 | -318 | -9% | 15,312 | 17,147 | 1,835 | 12% | |
| New Tractors | 289 | 289 | 0 | 0% | 1,216 | 1,479 | 263 | 22% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 299 | 335 | 36 | 12% | 1,304 | 1,456 | 152 | 12% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 532 | 566 | 34 | 6% | 3,442 | 3,389 | -53 | -2% | |
| New Other | 376 | 293 | -83 | -22% | 1,458 | 1,401 | -57 | -4% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 13,352 | 15,681 | 2,329 | 17% | 95,434 | 100,886 | 5,452 | 6% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 6,144 | 7,519 | 1,375 | 22% | 27,879 | 37,888 | 10,009 | 36% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 1,148 | 1,040 | -108 | -9% | 5,086 | 5,584 | 498 | 10% | |
| Used tractors | 260 | 239 | -21 | -8% | 1,155 | 1,205 | 50 | 4% | |
| Used motorcycles | 331 | 361 | 30 | 9% | 1,267 | 1,433 | 166 | 13% | |
| Used other vehicles | 647 | 725 | 78 | 12% | 2,805 | 3,258 | 453 | 16% | |
| Total used vehicles | 8,530 | 9,884 | 1,354 | 16% | 38,192 | 49,368 | 11,176 | 29% | |
| Total all vehicles | 21,882 | 25,565 | 3,683 | 17% | 133,626 | 150,254 | 16,628 | 12% | |
Figure 2 In May 2026, 27% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, May 2026 | |
| Toyota | 18 |
| Skoda | 13 |
| Kia | 6 |
| Hyundai | 5 |
| Other | 42 |
| Volkswagen | 15 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, May 2026 | |
| VolkswagenID.4 | 11 |
| Skoda Enyaq | 6 |
| Other | 69 |
| ToyotaBZ4X | 4 |
| VolkswagenID.3 | 4 |
| Skoda Elroq | 6 |
| X-axis label | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Jan - May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year old | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1-2 years old | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 |
| 3-5 years old | 36 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 24 |
| 6-9 years old | 42 | 42 | 42 | 39 | 35 |
| Over 10 years old | 14 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 29 |
Check the rankings of new vehicles for the most recent month as well as year
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 June 2026) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for May 2026.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 118% growth in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in May 2026 (3,010) when compared with the same month in 2025 (1,382). We saw an increase in the licensing of hybrid vehicles which were up 55% from 1,763 in May 2025 to 2,727 new private cars in May 2026.
The total number of used (imported) private cars licensed in May 2026 rose by 22% compared with the same period in 2025 (7,519 vs 6,144). There were 1,475 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in May 2026, compared with 1,539 in the same period of 2025. Used (imported) private petrol cars licensed went up by 6% in May 2026 compared with May 2025 (2,739 vs 2,588).
In the first five months of 2026, there was a 52% rise in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same period in 2025 (18,041 vs 11,877). We can also see that almost a quarter (24%) of all new private cars licensed between January and May were electric. Over the same five-month period, there was a fall of 19% in the number of new petrol cars licensed (15,952 vs 19,717). Similarly, a 22% decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed was seen over the same period (9,749 vs 12,485).
The total number of new goods vehicles licensed for the first time in May was 3,135, down 9% on May 2025 (3,453). There were 17,147 new goods vehicles licensed from January to May 2026 which was an increase of 12% on the 15,312 licensed over the same period of 2025.
Most Popular Makes
Data also shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in May 2026 at 2,011 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (1,679), Skoda (1,483), Kia (621), and Hyundai (604). Together, these five makes represented 58% of all new private cars licensed in May 2026 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in May 2026 was Volkswagen ID.4 (341), followed by Skoda Enyaq (182), and Skoda Elroq (175) (See TEM28 for further information).”