Northern EU regions with higher shares of electric cars

In 2024, the highest shares of electric passenger cars among all passenger cars were registered in the EU's northern regions.

As in 2023, Flevoland in the Netherlands recorded the highest share in 2024, at 22.1%, indicating a 5.0 percentage point (pp) increase compared with 2023. This region was followed at a distance by Stockholm in Sweden (14.4%), Hovedstaden in Denmark (13.3%), Prov. Vlaams-Brabant in Belgium (12.9%) and Midtjylland, also in Denmark (12.6%). There are only 4 other EU regions with shares above 10%: Sjælland (11.6%), Syddanmark (11.0%) and Nordjylland (10.2%) in Denmark, and Utrecht in the Netherlands (10.7%).

This information comes from data on regional transport statistics published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on stock of vehicles at regional level.

Source dataset: tran_r_elvehst

Valle d'Aosta: EU region with the highest share of utility vehicles

When looking at utility vehicles (lorries, road tractors and special vehicles, excluding trailers and semi-trailers), these are more equally distributed across EU regions.

Among the 15 EU regions with the highest shares of utility vehicles in the total number of vehicles in 2024, Valle d'Aosta in Italy led with 22.0%. This is partially explained by the region being at the border with Switzerland and France, making it a key European freight corridor between the 2 countries. This Italian region was followed by Prov. West-Vlaanderen in Belgium (20.5%), and the Northern and Western region in Ireland and Guyane in France, both with 20.0%.

The top 15 regions also included 4 regions in Finland, 3 in Belgium, 2 in Spain, 1 in Ireland and Cyprus (a single region at this level of detail).

The share of utility vehicles depends on several indicators, for example, the regional transport systems and related infrastructure for different modes of freight transport, such as the capacity of motorways, railway lines, ports and airports. The economic characteristics of a region also play a role, i.e. whether the regional economy is dominated by manufacturing industries or services, and whether the region is located on key European freight corridors.

Source dataset: tran_r_vehst