Average of 55 motor vehicles a day added to Malta’s roads in first quarter of 2021

A total of 4,921 motor vehicles were newly licensed to operate on Maltese roads between January and March, with 970, almost a fifth, being motorcycles or e-bikes, while over two thirds were passenger cars.

The figures emerge from a National Statistics Office release, which noted that an average of 55 motor vehicles a day were newly licensed in the first months of 2021.

Newly licensed used vehicles made up 54.5 per cent of the total, although the continuing attractiveness of this category is in doubt due to new customs rules arising from the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

Over the same period, 7,513 were taken off the road due to a restriction.

Out of these, 35.2 per cent were put up for resale, 33.7 per cent were garaged, while scrapped motor vehicles amounted to 29.6 per cent of the total.

Motor vehicles that had their restriction ending during the quarter under review totalled 4,422. The majority were recorded as being resold (56.2 per cent) or garaged (43.1 per cent).

The total stock of licensed motor vehicles increased by 1,876 over the quarter, reaching 404,303.

Out of this total, 76.5 per cent were passenger cars, 13.9 per cent were commercial motor vehicles, 8.5 per cent were motorcycles/quadricycles and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), while buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent.

During the quarter under review, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased at a net average rate of 21 motor vehicles per day.

Engine Type

As at the end of March 2021, 239,401 motor vehicles or 59.2 per cent of the total had petrol-powered engines.

Diesel-powered motor vehicles reached 156,139 or 38.6 per cent of the total.

Electric and hybrid motor vehicles accounted for 1.7 per cent of the entire stock, with a total of 6,993 motor vehicles.

When compared to the previous quarter, increases of 21.5 per cent, 14.6 per cent and 12.3 per cent were registered in the Electric, Hybrid (Electric/ Diesel), and Hybrid (Electric/Petrol) motor vehicles respectively.