Number of licensed vehicles on the road rose by 1,876 in first quarter of 2021

In the first quarter of 2021, the number of licensed motor vehicles increased by 1,876 over the previous quarter, the National Statistics Office said.

At the end of March 2021, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 404,303. Out of this total, 76.5% were passenger cars, 13.9% were commercial motor vehicles, 8.5% were motorcycles/quadricycles and AllTerrain Vehicles (ATVs), while buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent.

During the quarter under review, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased at a net average rate of 21 motor vehicles per day.

Newly licensed motor vehicles put on the road during the period under review amounted to 4,921. The majority of the newly licensed motor vehicles, 3,307 or 67.2% of the total, were passenger cars, followed by motorcycle/Ebicycle/PA-Bicycle with 970 or 19.7%.

Newly licensed ‘new’ motor vehicles amounted to 2,241 or 45.5% of the total, whereas newly licensed ‘used’ motor vehicles totalled 2,680 or 54.5%.

Motor vehicles under restriction

During the first quarter of 2021, 7,513 motor vehicles were taken off the road due to a restriction. Out of these, 35.2% were put up for resale, 33.7% were garaged, while scrapped motor vehicles amounted to 29.6% of the total. Motor vehicles that had their restriction ending during the quarter under review totalled 4,422. The majority were recorded as being resold (56.2%) or garaged (43.1%)

Engine type

As at the end of March 2021, 239,401 motor vehicles or 59.2% of the total had petrol-powered engines. Diesel-powered motor vehicles reached 156,139 or 38.6% of the total. Electric and hybrid motor vehicles accounted for 1.7% of the entire stock, with a total of 6,993 motor vehicles. When compared to the previous quarter, increases of 21.5%, 14.6% and 12.3% were registered in the Electric, Hybrid (Electric/ Diesel), and Hybrid (Electric/Petrol) motor vehicles respectively.