Eurostat: Romania, last in the EU as number of cars per 1,000 inhabitants

In 2016, there were 258 million passenger cars on the EU’s roads. Car ownership rates were highest in Luxembourg (660 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants) followed by Italy, Malta and Finland (all above 600), while there were between 300 and 400 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Slovakia, Croatia, Latvia and Hungary; Romania (280) was below this range, Eurostat informs.

Newer cars tend to be less environmentally damaging, with better fuel consumption and lower emissions; there is also a growing share of electric/hybrid vehicles. In 2016, almost half (47.4 %) of all passenger cars in the EU (excluding Bulgaria, Greece and Slovakia) were at least 10 years old, compared with just 11.7 % that were less than two years. The figures regarding Romania are from 2015.

The European average was of 510 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.