19,212 vehicles were licensed last year, of which only 8,191 were new, the government said.

The figures, it said, meant that one in every eight households bought a car last year.

4,782 cars were licensed in the last three months of 2014.

The figure for the whole of last year is 23% higher than in 2013. 

The government said these figures contrasted with Opposition claims of a decline in private consumption. In 2014 Maltese families were in a financial position to buy  3,537 more cars than in 2013 under the previous government.

The figures, it said, also contradicted the allegation by the leader of the opposition that motorists were burdened by fuel prices.

The government said it was committed to continue to improve purchasing power.

PN; GOVERNMENT SHOWING IT IS CUT OFF FROM THE PEOPLE

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said the government's argument to defend high fuel prices was unbelievable.

The government had the gall to try to justify high fuel prices by pointing to the increase in cars.

This showed how the government was cut off from reality and from the people and how it was arrogant.

Earlier today the National Statistics Office said that at the end of 2014, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 335,249. Of these, 79.3 per cent were passenger cars, 12.8 per cent were goods-carrying vehicles, 5.5 per cent were motorcycles, while buses and minibuses accounted for less than one per cent.

In the fourth quarter last year, 48 vehicles were exported. Garaged vehicles amounted to 2,090, while scrapped vehicles totalled 702. As at the end of December last year, 203,180 vehicles, or 60.6 per cent of the total, had petrol engines. Vehicles with diesel engines reached 131,005, or 39.1 per cent of the total.