Congested roads, high maintenance costs and air pollution: the negative effects of travelling by car are obvious. Nevertheless, the car is still the main form of transport in today´s society. The number of passenger cars is increasing, and with it the volume of traffic and emissions.

Passenger cars account for more than 80% of passenger transport

The car remained the by far most common form of transport in the EU. The share of public transport remains low.

Number of passenger cars reaches new peak

In total, there are more than 48 million passenger cars on Germany´s roads. In 2022, the car density in Germany reached a new peak of 585 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants. In the EU, Germany was ranked 9th. The EU´s highest motorisation rate was registered in Italy with 684 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants, the lowest in Latvia (414).

Source: Eurostat

Classic combustion engines still very widespread

In Germany around 57% of all newly registered cars in 2021 were equipped with a classic combustion engine: 37% run on petrol and 20% on diesel. 14% of the 2.6 newly registered cars were electric. In Norway 64% of newly registered passenger cars in 2021 were electric (Source: Eurostat new registrations in total, electric cars).

Rising carbon dioxide emissions

In 2021, around 740 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted by road transport across the EU. This represents a 21% increase on the 1990 level. Most of the emissions in road transport are caused by passenger cars.

Source: Eurostat

Road transport: almost 20,000 deaths per year

Almost 20,000 people were killed in road accidents in 2021. More than 2,500 people died in Germany alone. This corresponds to an average of seven people per day.

Source: Eurostat