Number of passenger cars in Bulgaria dropped between 2013 and 2017
The number of passenger cars in Bulgaria decreased between 2013 and 2017, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said on July 24.
In 2013, there were more than 2.9 million passenger cars in Bulgaria. The figure rose above three million in 2014, and above 3.1 million in 2015 and 2016. However, in 2017 it dropped to 2.7 million, according to Eurostat.
Over these years, Bulgaria was one of only three EU countries where the number of registered passenger cars declined.
In 2017, the number of passenger cars per 1000 inhabitants in Bulgaria was just less 400, compared with an EU average of more than 500 per 1000.
Eurostat said that among EU countries with the highest “motorisation rates”, that is, passenger cars per 1000 inhabitants, there were several smaller countries.
In 2017, Luxembourg (670 passenger cars per 1000 inhabitants) headed the list, Eurostat said, adding that, however, this figure may be influenced by cross-border workers using company cars registered in the country.
After that followed Italy with 625 cars per 1000 inhabitants, Finland (617 cars), Malta (613 cars) and Cyprus (609 cars).
In 2017, the highest number of registered passenger cars was observed in Germany with 46 million cars. Thereafter followed Italy (37 million cars: 2016 data) and France (32 million cars).
Over the five year period from 2013 to 2017, there was strong growth in the number of registered passenger cars in several EU member states, Eurostat said.
The highest growth over this period was recorded in Slovakia (18 per cent), followed by Czech Republic and Portugal (both 17 per cent), Estonia (15 per cent), Malta and Hungary (both 14 per cent).
Several EU countries reported a large share of “old” passenger cars (20 years or older) in 2017.
The member states with the highest shares were Poland (35.2 per cent), Estonia (28.7 per cent), Finland (23.7 per cent) and Malta (20.3 per cent). By contrast, the shares of the “youngest” passenger cars (less than two years old) were highest in Ireland (27.5 per cent), Luxembourg (24 per cent), Denmark (23.6 per cent), and Belgium (22.2 per cent).
As to “old” and “young” passengers, figures for four EU countries were not available, Eurostat said. One was Bulgaria, and the others, Greece, Slovakia and Iceland.
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