EU had 1.6 buses and coaches per 1 000 people in 2024

In 2024, there were 737 142 buses and motor coaches (including trolleybuses, mini-buses and mini-coaches) in the EU, i.e. 1.6 buses and motor coaches per 1 000 inhabitants. This motorisation rate has remained stable for the last 10 years, while the number of passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants increased significantly in the same period (from 506 in 2014 to 578 in 2024).

The highest number of buses and motor coaches per 1 000 people was recorded in Malta (4.6), followed by Luxembourg (4.0) and Estonia (3.7). The lowest rates were recorded in the Netherlands (0.5), Germany (1.0) and Austria (1.2).

This information comes from data on transport equipment published by Eurostat today. The article presents some findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on transport equipment.

Source datasets: road_eqs_busmot and demo_gind

On average, 5.1% of the bus and motor coach fleet was renewed across the EU in 2024. The renewal rate represents the ratio of first-registered vehicles in all vehicles, excluding the second-hand vehicles.

In Luxembourg, 11.6% of the fleet was renewed, 9.6% in the Netherlands and 9.5% in Austria. In contrast, only 0.7% of the fleet was renewed in Bulgaria, 2.4% in Poland and 2.5% in Hungary.

Source datasets: road_eqr_busmot and road_eqs_busmot

Efforts to improve the air quality, especially in urban areas, have had a positive impact on the share of zero-emission buses and motor coaches among all new vehicle registrations. At EU level, in 2024, this share was higher than for new passenger cars (17.8% vs 13.5%), corresponding to 6 746 newly registered zero-emission motor coaches and buses.