Over 380,000 vehicles on the roads by end September

The stock of licensed vehicles from July to September this year increased at a net average of 36 per day, with the figure for the total number of cars on Malta’s roads standing at over 382,000 by the end of last month.

This marks an increase of 3.6% over the same period in 2017, administrative data obtained by the National Statistics Office from Transport Malta shows.

To put the total number of vehicles into perspective, the population of Malta stood at around 475,000 by end 2017, according to Eurostat.

Out of the total number of vehicles on the roads, 78% were passenger cars, over 13% commercial vehicles, and more than 7% were motorcycles/quadricycles and all terrain vehicles. Buses and minibuses amount to less than 1%.

Newly-licensed vehicles put on the road during the same three-month period amounted to just under 6,500, the figures indicate, with the majority, over 70% being passenger cars, and under 15% motorcycles/e-bicycles.

Less than half the total of these - under 45% - where brand new newly-licensed automobiles, while more than 55% were used cars.

Almost 7,000 cars taken off the roads

From July to September 2019, close to 7,000 cars were taken off the road due to some restriction, 37% of which were put up for resale, 31% were scrapped, and another 30% were garaged.

In the same period, 3,700 vehicles had their restriction end, with 67% of these being resold and 33% stored in a garage.

Petrol is king, electric and hybrid increasing

Electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for a mere 0.5% of the entire stock as of end September, with less than 2,000 such cars.

This, however, marked an increase of over 17% compared to the previous quarter.

Most electric or hybrid vehicles were passenger cars, but the figures shows that eight buses on Maltese rounds are running on electric power.

The majority of cars by the end of last month were petrol powered, with over 60% of the total, or 230,000 vehicles. Under 40% - 149,000 - ran on diesel.