Slowly but surely? Nearly half of EU's new cars in 2023 were hybrid and electric

By Inês Trindade Pereira & video by Mert Can Yilmaz

In 2023, 48.3% of the 10.7 million new cars registered in the EU were hybrid and electric vehicles.

According to the latest Eurostat figures, this amount nearly equals the 48.8% share of traditional petrol and diesel cars.

The number of battery-only electric passenger cars in the EU countries in 2023 also exceeded 4.4 million, which was about 88 times higher than in 2013 and 12 times higher than in 2018.

Yet, pure petrol cars maintained the largest individual share at 34.5%. Non-plug-in hybrid petrol-electric cars were second at 21.1%.  

Battery-only electric cars accounted for 14.5%, surpassing pure diesel cars, which stood at 14.3%. 

Which EU countries lead in purchasing hybrid and electric cars?

Over the past five years, the number of passenger car fleets has increased across the EU.

In nine EU countries, the share of hybrid and electric passenger cars in new registrations exceeded 50% in 2023.   

Finland led the EU in adopting hybrid and electric vehicles, as they comprised 78% of new registrations, with 44% hybrid and 34% electric.

Sweden followed with 69%, of which 30% were hybrid and 39% electric. The Netherlands registered a total of 68%, with 37% hybrid and 31% electric. 

In contrast, Bulgaria recorded the lowest share at 7%, followed by Czechia at 20% and Croatia at 28%.