Archive:Vehicle fleet statistics at regional level
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- Data from March 2011. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article deals with passenger transport by road in the regions of Europe, studying the motorisation rate (passenger cars per inhabitant) in the regions and the role public transport vehicles (such as buses, trolleybuses and motor coaches) play. It highlights striking differences in the structure of passenger transport by road between regions in the western parts and in the central and eastern parts of the European Union and examines the stock of freight vehicles in European regions.
Main statistical findings
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Stock of passenger cars, buses and coaches
There are clear differences in the number of passenger cars per inhabitant (known as the ‘motorisation rate’) within the regions of the European Union. The highest regional rate registered in the European Union was 10 times higher than the lowest.
The highest motorisation rate was in Valle d’Aosta in Italy, which was almost 40 % higher than the next highest region (Flevoland in the Netherlands). Eleven of the 20 regions with the highest motorisation rate in 2009 were in Italy.
Generally, the figures show an east–west divide in the European Union, with more passenger cars per inhabitant registered in western European regions than in the regions of central and eastern Europe. Exceptions were in Denmark, Ireland and Greece (except the Attiki region around Athens), which had relatively low motorisation rates. In central and eastern Europe, regions with relatively high motorisation rates are found in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and parts of Poland.
Within the European Union, the seven regions with the lowest numbers of passenger cars per inhabitant were all in Romania, with the lowest in the Nord-Est region. These were followed by Peloponnisos in Greece, Vychodne Slovensko in Slovakia and Inner London in the United Kingdom.
The motorisation rates recorded in the European Union are often linked to economic issues. For instance, the top region, Valle d’Aosta, has especially low petrol prices. A number of regions close to larger cities also have a high number of passenger cars, suggesting a larger number of commuters. Examples of this are Flevoland in the Netherlands, Cheshire in the United Kingdom, Lazio in Italy and Attiki in Greece. Several island regions also have high motorisation rates, including Åland in Finland, Illes Balears in Spain, Sicilia in Italy and Corse in France.
The number of passenger cars per inhabitant is calculated on the basis of the stock of vehicles as of 31 December and population figures as of 1 January the following year.
Interestingly, the figures for public transport vehicles such as buses, trolleybuses and motor coaches are in contrast to those for passenger cars per inhabitant. The share of public transport vehicles in the total number of road vehicles for passenger transport also differs clearly between western Europe and central and eastern Europe. The regions in central and eastern Europe record the highest shares of public transport vehicles, which make up a much smaller share in most western European regions.
Out of the 10 European regions with the highest shares of public transport vehicles, five are Romanian, four Bulgarian and the other is Latvian. The highest share is found in Yugoiztochen, the region with the lowest population density in Bulgaria. This is followed by the Sud-Est region in Romania.
The regions in western Europe with the highest shares of public transport vehicles are all found in the United Kingdom. However, there are stark contrasts between these regions: on one hand they are the regions with a low population density, including the Highlands and Islands, West Wales and the Valleys and Cumbria, and on the other hand they are the densely populated urban regions of Inner London and Merseyside.
Generally, the United Kingdom stands out as having high numbers of passenger cars per inhabitant and at the same time a relatively high share of buses, trolleybuses and motor coaches in the total number of passenger road vehicles.
The share of public transport vehicles is calculated per 10 000 passenger road vehicles as of 31 December.
Stock of road freight vehicles
The picture is quite different when looking at road freight vehicles, where no systematic differences can be seen between west and east European regions.
The two regions with the highest number of registered freight vehicles are both located on the Mediterranean Sea: Andalucía and Cataluña in Spain. These two regions play a key role in freight transport in the western Mediterranean, with direct ferry connections not only to the Spanish islands, Ceuta and Melilla, but also from Andalucía to Morocco and Algeria and between Cataluña and Italy.
The region with the third highest number of freight vehicles is Lombardia, with its main city Milan, which is one of the key economic centres of Italy. The geographical position of this region also seems to play a key role in the regional need for freight vehicles: Lombardia, located at the heart of international freight corridors between Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria, registers a very high volume of trans-Alpine freight transport.
The other regions registering more than half a million freight vehicles are all economic centres dominated by the national capital or a major city: Île de France (Paris), Comunidad de Madrid, Istanbul, Mazowieckie (Warszawa), Rhône-Alpes (Lyon), Comunidad Valenciana (Valencia), Oberbayern (München) and Etelä-Suomi (Helsinki).
The share of freight vehicles out of all road vehicles in a region depends on a number of different factors. These include the regional transport system and its infrastructure for different modes of freight transport, such as the capacity of motorways, railway lines, ports and airports. They also include the economic characteristics of the region, i.e. whether the regional economy is driven by manufacturing or services, and whether the region is located on key European freight corridors.
Reflecting these fundamental differences, there are huge disparities in the regional structure of vehicle stocks. The highest regional share of freight vehicles is found in the Nordjylland region in Denmark (38.6 %). This is more than five times higher than in the region with the lowest share, Inner London in the United Kingdom (7.4 %).
The highest shares of freight vehicles are registered in regions in northern Europe: eight of the 10 regions with the highest shares of freight vehicles are located in Denmark or Finland, indicating a large role for road transport in the freight transport systems of these countries. All three regions with the highest shares are Danish: Nordjylland, Syddanmark, and Midtjylland. Next are four Finnish regions (Åland, Pohjois-Suomi, Itä-Suomi and Länsi-Suomi), two Greek regions (Peloponnisos and Sterea Ellada) and a further Danish region (Sjælland).
At the other end of the scale, five of the 10 EU regions with the lowest shares of freight vehicles in all road vehicles are located in the United Kingdom, with Inner London, Outer London and Merseyside (Liverpool) joining Attika in Greece (Athina) and Liguria in Italy in the top five.
Data sources and availability
Eurostat collects, compiles and disseminates a variety of regional indicators. Data on road and railway infrastructure, inland waterways, vehicle stocks and road accidents are currently collected by Member States and candidate countries on a voluntary basis. Data on road transport of goods and maritime and air transport for passengers and goods are derived directly from data collected under legal acts. Data on journeys made by vehicles are derived from a specific study of road transport data.
Regional transport indicators are available on Eurostat’s website under ‘Transport’ and are mirrored in the ‘General and regional statistics’. Full datasets and predefined tables are available, covering infrastructure, the vehicle fleet, journeys by road, rail, sea and air and road safety (numbers of deaths and injuries in road accidents). All data are annual.
The data used in the maps and tables were extracted from Eurostat’s website, although not all the derived indicators are directly available there.
Further information can be found in Eurostat’s Statistics in focus series on transport issues and in CARE, a database managed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, which contains detailed data on road accidents collected by the Member States.
Precise definitions of all the variables used can be found in the Illustrated glossary for transport statistics (4thedition)
Context
This article provides basic figures on the regional distribution of Stock of passenger cars, buses and coaches and on stock of road freight vehicles. However, these data are only part of the wider set of regional transport statistics available in Eurostat’s databases. Regional transport statistics show patterns of variation across regions, where transport-related variables are often closely related to levels of economic activity. Transport policies are at the very heart of efforts to reduce regional inequality and improve regional cohesion. In the enlarged European Union, economic and infrastructure disparities are now more evident than before.
One of Eurostat’s long-term objectives is to expand the current regional transport indicators in order to provide a better understanding of the impact of transport policies on economic growth, transport needs and the environment.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Regional yearbook 2011 - Chapter 14, Transport
- Energy, transport and environment indicators - Pocketbook - 2011 edition
Main tables
- Transport, see:
- Road transport (t_road)
Database
- Transport, see:
- Road transport (road)
- Road transport equipement - Stock of vehicles (road_eqs)
Dedicated section
Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)
Other information
External links
See also
- Archive:Air transport statistics at regional level
- Car and motorcycle trade statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
- Car production statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
- Fuel retail and service station statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
- International trade in motor cars
- Archive:Maritime transport statistics at regional level
- Road freight transport statistics