The total number of vehicle registrations increased by 11.5% in the period January–July 2026, reaching 34,787, compared with 31,200 in the same period of 2025. At the same time, the Statistical Service’s ‘Motor Vehicle Registrations’ report shows a slight decrease of 3.8 per cent in new vehicle registrations and a 24.1 per cent increase in used vehicle registrations.
According to figures published on Friday by the Statistical Service, in July 2026 total motor vehicle registrations reached 5,420, marking a 3.3 per cent increase compared with 5,246 in July, with a slight rise of 2.2 per cent in registrations of saloon cars (4,244 in July 2026, up from 4,154 in July 2025). It is also noted that the number of bus registrations has increased by 72.7 per cent, with 19 buses registered in July 2026 compared with July 2025, whilst the number of moped registrations has fallen by 25.8 per cent.
Increase in registrations of hybrid saloons
According to the report’s data, there has been a decline in the share of petrol-powered saloon cars and an increase in that of hybrid models. Specifically, during the period January–July, registrations of passenger saloon cars totalled 26,841 (an increase of 11.1% compared with 24,158 in the corresponding period of 2025), of which 8,614 (32.1%) were new, and 18,227 (67.9%) were second-hand cars.
There was an 11.8% decrease (from 3,581 to 3,159) in the number of hire cars, as well as a decline in the share of petrol-powered saloon cars, which fell to 35.5% in the period January–July 2026 (from 43.3% in the corresponding period of 2025). There was also a slight decrease in the share of diesel cars (from 8.5% in 2025 to 8.0% in 2026) and electric cars (from 4.8% to 4.6%). By contrast, the share of hybrid vehicles rose from 43.3 per cent to 51.9 per cent.
Bus registrations also rose, reaching 130 in the January–July 2026 period, up from 89 in the same period of 2025. Furthermore, registrations of goods conveyance vehicles rose to 4,074 in the period January–July 2026, compared with 3,608 in the corresponding period of 2025, marking an increase of 12.9 per cent. Specifically, light goods vehicles rose by 12.1 per cent to 3,324, road tractors (tow trucks) by 15.2 per cent to 152, heavy goods vehicles by 16.1 per cent to 491, and hire vehicles by 16.6 per cent to 197.
At the same time, registrations of mopeds < 50cc fell to 100, compared with 143 during the same period in 2025, whilst registrations of motorcycles > 50cc increased by 12.9 per cent to 3,167 in the period January–July 2026, compared with 2,806 in the same period of 2025.
