Trade in electric and hybrid cars continued to grow in 2022 in the EU

Between 2017 and 2022, the trade of electric and hybrid cars in the EU registered a staggering increase.

In 2022, 42% of the total number of cars imported were electric or hybrid, indicating an increase of 35 percentage points (pp) compared with 2017. The change in exports was also clear with a 24 pp increase in 2022 (26% of the total number of cars exported) from 2017 (2% of the total).

Non-plug-in hybrid cars went from 6% of total car imports and 0.4% of car exports in 2017 to 21% and 13%, respectively, in 2022. Full electric cars represented 15% (+14 pp compared with 2017) of car imports and 9% of exports (+8 pp) in 2022, plug-in hybrid cars represented 7% (+6 pp) of car imports and 4% of exports (+3 pp).

In terms of value, in 2022, the EU spent a total of €37.0 billion on imports from extra-EU countries on hybrid and electric cars, an increase of 27%, compared with 2021 (€29.1 billion). Imports of non-plug-in hybrid cars were worth €16.0 billion, followed by full electric cars (12.6 billion) and plug-in hybrid cars (€8.4 billion).

Exports of the same products to extra-EU countries amounted to €59.1 billion in total value, +41% compared with 2021 (€42.0 billion). Non-plug-in hybrid cars exports totalled €28.5 billion, while exports of full electric cars reached €22.4 billion and plug-in hybrid cars €8.1 billion.

How many electric cars are sold in Europe?

Main partner for non-plug-in hybrid cars

Non-plug-in hybrid cars was the largest category traded among the hybrid and electric cars. The top 3 extra-EU countries from which the EU imported non-plug-in hybrid cars were the United Kingdom with €3.4 billion (corresponding to 21% of the total imports for non-plug-in hybrid cars), followed by Japan (€2.8 billion) with a percentage share of 18% and Türkiye (€2.5 billion) with a 15% share.

The top 3 main extra-EU countries for exports were the United States (€8.7 billion) with a percentage share of 30%, followed by the United Kingdom (€4.5 billion) with 16%, and Norway (€4.3 billion) with 15%.

More information: Eurostat