3,700 more cars on the roads since July
Cars accounted for three-fifths of the 6,100 vehicles licensed between July and September
Almost 3,700 cars were added to Malta’s roads between July and September, recent figures show.
In total, more than 6,100 vehicles were licensed during the third quarter of the year, equivalent to 36 vehicles per day. Passenger cars accounted for around 60% of the vehicles added to the roads.
More than 1,600 motorcycles and e-bikes were licensed during the same period.
The additions saw the number of vehicles on Malta’s roads rise to over 454,000 – the highest levels seen since at least 2022, when, in the first quarter of that year, there were fewer than 415,000.
Buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent of the total vehicles on the road by the end of the third quarter.
While around 6,800 vehicles were taken off the road due to restrictions – such as being scrapped or garaged – over 4,700 saw their restrictions end, with around 44% resold.
Despite a Europe-wide drive to encourage electric car use, electric and hybrid motor vehicles accounted for less than five per cent of the total vehicles on the road.
Almost three out of every five vehicles (58%) were petrol-powered, while diesel accounted for just over a third (34%) of vehicles.
Of the newly registered vehicles, 58% were newly purchased and 42% were used vehicles.
The figures come as the country continues to grapple with perennial traffic woes. In February, more than a quarter of respondents told a Times of Malta poll that traffic, parking and public transport were the country’s biggest problems.