Motor Vehicles: Q3/2021​

22 October 2021 | 1100 hrs | 192/2021

In the third quarter of 2021, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased by 2,851 over the previous quarter.

Motor Vehicles: Q3/2021

At the end of September 2021, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 411,056. Out of this total, 76.0 per cent were passenger cars, 13.8 per cent were commercial motor vehicles, 9.1 per cent were motorcycles/ quadricycles/E-Kick Scooters and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), while buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent (Table 1). During the quarter under review, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased at a net average rate of 31 motor vehicles per day (Chart 2).

Newly licensed motor vehicles

Newly licensed motor vehicles put on the road during the period under review amounted to 5,235. The majority of the newly licensed motor vehicles, 3,235 or 61.8 per cent of the total, were passenger cars, followed by motorcycle/E- bicycle/PA-Bicycle with 1,237 or 23.6 per cent. Newly licensed 'new' motor vehicles amounted to 2,859 or 54.6 per cent of the total, whereas newly licensed 'used' motor vehicles totalled 2,376 or 45.4 per cent (Tables 2-4). An average of 57 motor vehicles per day were newly licensed during the quarter under review (Chart 3).

Motor vehicles under restriction

During the third quarter of 2021, 7,130 motor vehicles were taken off the road due to a restriction. Out of these, 38.8 per cent were scrapped, 30.5 per cent were put up for resale, while 28.8 per cent were garaged. Motor vehicles that had their restriction ending during the quarter under review totalled 4,850. The majority were recorded as being garaged (51.8 per cent) or resold (47.7 per cent) (Tables 5-6).

Motor engine type

As at the end of September 2021, 243,383 motor vehicles or 59.2 per cent of the total had petrol-powered engines. Diesel-powered motor vehicles reached 156,350 or 38.0 per cent of the total. Electric and plug-in hybrid motor vehicles accounted for 1.4 per cent of the entire stock, with a total of 5,790 motor vehicles. When compared to the previous quarter, increases of 50.0 per cent, 22.5 per cent and 18.3 per cent were registered in the plug-in hybrid (diesel-electric), mild hybrid (diesel-electric) and plug-in hybrid (petrol-electric) motor vehicles respectively (Table 7) 

Chart 1. Stock of licensed motor vehicles by period

motor vehicles

420,000

400,000

380,000

360,000

340,000

320,000

0

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

2018

2019

2020

2021

period

Statistics in this News Release should be interpreted in the context of the COVID-19 situation.

Compiled by: Regional, Geospatial, Energy and Transport Statistics Unit	1
Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000
T. [phone], E. [e-mail]
https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/		https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/

2								Table 1. Stock of licensed motor vehicles by vehicle group and period
				Minibus		Motorcycle/E-Bicycle/	E-Kick Scooter		Quad and ATV			Passenger car			Commercial vehicle
						PA-Bicycle
	Period	Agricultural	privateandCoachbus	hireGarage	Other	busRoute	drive-Self	Leased	Other	Leased	Other		Leased	Other	hireGarage	drive-Self	Leased	Taxi	Other	carrying-Goodsvehicle	purposeSpecialvehicle	tractorRoad	Total
	2018
	Q1	2,062	376	180	1,084	436	10	476	24,626		-	-	135	1,058	1,467	1,344	8,136	292	282,318	46,411	3,475	1,155	375,041
	Q2	2,087	378	174	1,103	437	10	597	25,419		-	-	166	1,059	1,656	1,431	8,527	292	284,514	46,852	3,494	1,142	379,338
	Q3	2,103	381	167	1,111	439	10	644	26,149		-	-	152	1,063	1,826	1,397	8,623	291	286,353	47,221	3,534	1,141	382,605
	Q4	2,116	388	165	1,123	436	10	637	26,682		-	-	151	1,056	2,011	1,170	8,608	291	288,062	47,695	3,578	1,147	385,326
2019
	Q1	2,131	404	159	1,149	431	10	631	27,138		-	-	152	1,051	2,190	1,092	8,794	291	289,399	47,989	3,621	1,143	387,775
	Q2	2,155	402	155	1,171	432	10	873	27,852		-	-	171	1,065	2,398	1,129	9,620	290	290,870	48,503	3,672	1,146	391,914
	Q3	2,176	406	143	1,247	462	10	944	28,517		-	-	155	1,070	2,492	1,109	9,718	292	292,330	49,003	3,728	1,153	394,955
	Q4	2,191	396	136	1,293	450	10	1,231	29,034		-	-	145	1,082	2,575	903	9,652	289	293,711	49,491	3,768	1,151	397,508
2020
	Q1	2,220	307	123	1,302	403	10	1,113	29,507		-	-	131	1,081	2,563	780	8,556	289	294,221	49,831	3,804	1,150	397,391
	Q2	2,253	234	106	1,205	422	9	882	30,120		-	-	104	1,102	2,300	544	6,785	251	294,161	49,961	3,822	1,152	395,413
	Q3	2,285	321	105	1,330	448	8	976	30,705	174	1		128	1,130	2,438	610	8,437	278	295,752	50,437	3,855	1,168	400,586
	Q4	2,323	330	107	1,350	435	8	942	31,163	174	17		109	1,146	2,340	460	8,038	254	297,266	50,870	3,921	1,174	402,427
2021
	Q1	2,352	310	106	1,354	433	6	1,030	31,641	487	36		120	1,143	2,270	426	7,859	228	298,364	51,014	3,955	1,169	404,303
	Q2	2,368	334	103	1,384	433	6	1,174	32,656	1,010	60		143	1,155	2,341	476	8,412	248	299,514	51,254	3,973	1,161	408,205
	Q3	2,389	346	104	1,402	440	6	1,263	33,588	996	112		145	1,152	2,470	532	8,856	262	300,375	51,457	3,996	1,165	411,056

Note: As from Q3 2021 data by vehicle group has been recategorised to include e-kick scooters. Refer to methodological note 6.

Chart 2. Average daily change in stock of licensed motor vehicles per quarter

	70
	60
	50
	40
vehicles	30
20
motor	10
0
	-10

-20-30

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

2018

2019

period

2020

2021

Table 2. Newly licensed motor vehicles by category and period

Period	Agricultural	privateandCoachbus	Minibus	busRoute	Motorcycle/E-Bicycle/Bicycle-PA	ScooterKick-E	ATVandQuad	carPassenger	carrying-Goodsvehicle	purposeSpecialvehicle
2018	86	15	75	8	3,284	-	72	19,479	3,100	289
Q1	25	6	14	4	627	-	8	5,022	764	76
Q2	24	-	22	4	999	-	38	5,115	779	69
Q3	21	4	22	-	958	-	16	4,632	746	69
Q4	16	5	17	-	700	-	10	4,710	811	75
2019	85	47	206	46	3,766	-	59	18,889	3,251	348
Q1	14	19	30	6	628	-	9	4,931	783	78
Q2	26	7	29	-	1,116	-	14	5,272	856	99
Q3	27	17	83	40	1,026	-	15	4,519	824	99
Q4	18	4	64	-	996	-	21	4,167	788	72
2020	142	18	142	52	2,789	191	84	13,211	2,503	265
Q1	32	8	59	2	631	-	13	3,750	688	69
Q2	35	3	12	20	788	-	34	2,157	550	58
Q3	35	4	42	30	734	175	25	3,490	540	59
Q4	40	3	29	-	636	16	12	3,814	725	79
2021
Q1	32	1	17	-	638	332	23	3,307	484	73
Q2	28	1	19	-	1,384	548	18	3,346	469	59
Q3	28	4	27	-	1,237	153	15	3,235	468	52

Notes:

1. Figures include 'new' and 'used' licensed motor vehicles.
2. As from Q3 2021 data by vehicle category has been recategorised to include e-kick scooters. Refer to methodological note 6.

Table 3. Newly licensed 'new' motor vehicles by category and period

Period	Agricultural	privateandCoach bus	Minibus	busRoute	Motorcycle/E-Bicycle/Bicycle-PA	ScooterKick-E	ATVandQuad	carPassenger	carrying-Goodsvehicle	purposeSpecialvehicle
2018	7	1	21	-	2,511	-	62	8,175	905	41
Q1	1	1	5	-	441	-	4	2,206	200	10
Q2	2	-	7	-	753	-	36	2,181	204	14
Q3	3	-	6	-	779	-	14	1,814	272	8
Q4	1	-	3	-	538	-	8	1,974	229	9
2019	8	2	33	40	3,126	-	53	7,698	779	36
Q1	1	-	-	-	475	-	8	1,976	201	4
Q2	3	-	2	-	928	-	10	2,513	197	16
Q3	4	2	10	40	857	-	15	1,752	231	11
Q4	-	-	21	-	866	-	20	1,457	150	5
2020	15	1	96	51	2,373	191	81	4,602	630	42
Q1	4	-	39	1	522	-	10	1,440	179	10
Q2	2	-	5	20	698	-	34	714	121	8
Q3	4	1	30	30	635	175	25	1,282	135	9
Q4	5	-	22	-	518	16	12	1,166	195	15
2021
Q1	3	-	11	-	533	331	23	1,197	129	14
Q2	6	-	17	-	1,276	547	15	1,442	171	15
Q3	5	-	23	-	1,149	153	13	1,325	179	11

Note: As from Q3 2021 data by vehicle category has been recategorised to include e-kick scooters. Refer to methodological note 6.

Road tractor	Total
89	26,497

27 6,573

1. 7,069
2. 6,488

23 6,367

100 26,797

27 6,525

20 7,439

29 6,679

24 6,154

83 19,480

16 5,268

22 3,679

26 5,160

19 5,373

1. 4,921
2. 5,887
3. 5,235

Road tractor

Total

• 11,730

• 2,871

• 3,197

• 2,897

• 2,765

• 11,781

• 2,669

• 3,670
• 2,923

• 2,519

• 8,088

• 2,207

• 1,603

• 2,329

• 1,949
• 2,241
• 3,489

1 2,859

3

Table 4. Newly licensed 'used' motor vehicles by category and period

Period	Agricultural	privateandCoachbus	Minibus	busRoute	Motorcycle/E-Bicycle/Bicycle-PA	ScooterKick-E	ATVandQuad	carPassenger	carrying-Goodsvehicle	purposeSpecialvehicle	tractorRoad	Total
2018	79	14	54	8	773	-	10	11,304	2,195	248	82	14,767
Q1	24	5	9	4	186	-	4	2,816	564	66	24	3,702
Q2	22	-	15	4	246	-	2	2,934	575	55	19	3,872
Q3	18	4	16	-	179	-	2	2,818	474	61	19	3,591
Q4	15	5	14	-	162	-	2	2,736	582	66	20	3,602
2019	77	45	173	6	640	-	6	11,191	2,472	312	94	15,016
Q1	13	19	30	6	153	-	1	2,955	582	74	23	3,856
Q2	23	7	27	-	188	-	4	2,759	659	83	19	3,769
Q3	23	15	73	-	169	-	-	2,767	593	88	28	3,756
Q4	18	4	43	-	130	-	1	2,710	638	67	24	3,635
2020	127	17	46	1	416	-	3	8,609	1,873	223	77	11,392
Q1	28	8	20	1	109	-	3	2,310	509	59	14	3,061
Q2	33	3	7	-	90	-	-	1,443	429	50	21	2,076
Q3	31	3	12	-	99	-	-	2,208	405	50	23	2,831
Q4	35	3	7	-	118	-	-	2,648	530	64	19	3,424
2021
Q1	29	1	6	-	105	1	-	2,110	355	59	14	2,680
Q2	22	1	2	-	108	1	3	1,904	298	44	15	2,398
Q3	23	4	4	-	88	-	2	1,910	289	41	15	2,376

Note: As from Q3 2021 data by vehicle category has been recategorised to include e-kick scooters. Refer to methodological note 6.

motor vehicles

Chart 3. Average daily newly licensed 'new' and 'used' motor vehicles per quarter

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

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Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

2018

2019

2020

2021

period

New

Used

4

Table 5. Motor vehicles with restriction starting during Q3/2021 by category and restriction type

Restriction	Agricultural	privateandCoach bus	Minibus	busRoute	Motorcycle/E-Bicycle	ScooterKick-E	ATVandQuad	carPassenger	carrying-Goodsvehicle	purposeSpecialvehicle
Resale	-	-	2	-	111	-	2	1,869	185	5
Exported	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	52	6	1
Garaged	24	4	22	-	394	-	22	1,255	277	42
Scrapped	-	1	7	1	163	-	3	2,408	167	10
Other1	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	54	10	1
Total	24	5	31	1	679	-	27	5,638	645	59

• Other minor restrictions such as seized by police, no engine, etc.

Note: As from Q3 2021 data by vehicle category has been recategorised to include e-kick scooters. Refer to methodological note 6.

Table 6. Motor vehicles with restriction ending during Q3/2021 by category and restriction type

Restriction	Agricultural	privateandCoach bus	Minibus	busRoute	Motorcycle/E-Bicycle	ScooterKick-E	ATVandQuad	carPassenger	carrying-Goodsvehicle	purposeSpecialvehicle
Resale	-	-	2	-	134	-	3	2,012	154	4
Exported1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	1	-
Garaged	18	15	30	9	275	-	8	1,942	186	23
Other2	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	13	7	-
Total	18	15	32	9	410	-	11	3,973	348	27

• Motor vehicles that have been exported and reimported.

• Other minor restrictions such as seized by police, no engine, etc. Notes:
  1. There may be motor vehicles with restriction starting and ending during the same quarter.
  2. As from Q3 2021 data by vehicle category has been recategorised to include e-kick scooters. Refer to methodological note 6.

Road tractor

Total

• 2,175

• 72

12 2,052

3 2,763

168

21 7,130

Road tractor

Total

• 2,311

• 8

• 2,510

• 21

7 4,850

5