Size of the vehicle fleet in Europe

Assessment versions

Published (reviewed and quality assured)

• 17 Dec 2019, 01:07 PM
  - Size of the vehicle fleet in Europe

Rationale

Justification for indicator selection

Vehicle ownership and truck intensity are closely related to vehicle use, i.e. the vehicle fleet expands in response to the demand for increased mobility. However, increasing private vehicle ownership often leads to increased transport demand and the subsequent environmental pressures, as the costs for vehicle use are relatively low and many cost items are fixed (e.g. depreciation, insurance and holder’s tax). The size of the vehicle fleet is therefore an important driver of road passenger and freight transport demand, and the environmental pressures they cause. Additionally, the total size of a vehicle fleet (combined with its average age (see TERM 33 — Average age of the vehicle fleet) gives some indication of the time needed for new technologies to penetrate such fleets.

Scientific references

• Company Car Taxation Company Car Taxation Subsidies, Welfare and Environment, Copenhagen Economics, 2010,   Copenhagen, Denmark.

Indicator definition

Vehicle ownership is defined as the number of road vehicles (passenger cars and two-wheelers) per number of inhabitants. The numbers of buses and coaches per number of inhabitants has also been included. The indicator can be extended to include other vehicles specified by passenger transport mode (i.e. coaches, rail, maritime, air), although these are not privately owned.

Freight transport intensity is defined as the number of vehicles per unit of GDP, specified by freight transport mode (road, rail, inland, maritime).

The share of diesel cars in the entire passenger car fleet is defined as the number of diesel vehicles per total number of passenger cars.

Units

Vehicle ownership is expressed as the number of vehicles per 1 000 inhabitants. Freight transport intensity is expressed as the number of heavy duty trucks per million euros of GDP in constant 2010 prices. Dieselisation is expressed as the percentage of diesel vehicles in the entire passenger car fleet.

Policy context and targets

Context description

The level of vehicle ownership is closely related to car use and thus volume of mobility. Especially in urban areas, it is also related to traffic congestion and the higher concentration of air pollutants in the atmosphere.

Targets

There are no specific objectives or targets related to the size and composition of the vehicle fleet. Policy objectives are rather set with respect to the average age and environmental performance of the fleet.

Related policy documents

No related policy documents have been specified

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

For passenger transport, vehicle ownership is calculated by dividing the total number of vehicles in each vehicle category (i.e. passenger cars, buses and coaches, and two-wheelers) by the number of inhabitants in each country or country group. For freight transport, truck intensity is calculated by dividing the total number of trucks (i.e. light and heavy duty vehicles, and freight trains) by the total GDP in each country or country group. The share of diesel passenger cars in the passenger car fleet is calculated by dividing the number of diesel passenger cars by the total passenger car fleet.

Methodology for gap filling

Data gap filling was needed for the dieselisation figure. Where Eurostat data were missing, ACEA/ANFAC, national statistics, TRACCS and interpolation were used.

Methodology references

No methodology references available.

Data specifications

EEA data references

• No datasets have been specified here.

External data references

• Regional transport statistics
• Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level (demo_gind)
• Annual national accounts (nama10)
• EC4MACS model
• Transport statistics
• TRACCS (Dataset URL is not available)
• European motor vehicle parc 2014 (Dataset URL is not available)
• Vehicles in use Europe 2017 (Dataset URL is not available)
• Statistical pocketbook 2018

Data sources in latest figures

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

No methodology uncertainty has been specified.

Data sets uncertainty

Data are considered reliable as they are derived from official statistics (DG MOVE, Eurostat).

Rationale uncertainty

No rationale uncertainty has been specified.