Traffic is everywhere, but Albania is third from the bottom in terms of the number of cars relative to population.

Although the number of vehicles is increasing and the population has decreased, Albania still remains one of the countries with the lowest number of vehicles in relation to population, not justifying the heavy traffic that is created everywhere.

According to Eurostat, at the end of 2023, 742 thousand active vehicles were in circulation in Albania, which in relation to the revised population of INSTAT in the 2023 Census results in 306 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants, or 0.3 vehicles per 1 inhabitant, according to Monitor's calculations. (Eurostat reports the figure of 202 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants for Albania, or 0.2 vehicles per inhabitant, but which is calculated based on the old population).

Although the indicator increases significantly after the population review, Albania remains third from the bottom for the low number of vehicles in relation to population, leaving behind only North Macedonia (264) and Turkey (176).

Serbia has 362 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants and Montenegro 389. The entire region is under-motorized compared to the European Union average of 550 vehicles per inhabitant, or compared to Italy, which ranks first, with 694 vehicles. In Albania, the only city that comes close to the EU average is Tirana, with around 500 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants.

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In 2023, there were an average of 0.55 passenger vehicles per inhabitant in the European Union, marking a decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to 2022, according to Eurostat.

Regional motorization rates (passenger vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants) are often linked to economic conditions, but can also be influenced by specific circumstances. For example, Valle d'Aosta's record rate was influenced by favorable tax rules.

The three regions with the highest motorization rate in 2023 were in Italy: Valle d'Aosta with 2,295 passenger vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, Provincia Autonoma di Trento with 1,521 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen with 915 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants.

Among the 10 regions with the highest motorization rate, 6 were in Italy, and one each in Finland, Greece, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

At the other end of the spectrum, the overseas region of France, Mayotte, had the lowest motorization rate with just 83 passenger vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by the Greek region of Peloponnese (206 per 1,000 inhabitants) and French Guiana (223 per 1,000 inhabitants).

Of the 10 regions with the lowest motorization rates, 4 were in Greece, 2 in France, 2 in Romania, and 1 each in Germany and Austria. Notably, 2 of them were metropolitan areas: Berlin (340) and Vienna (364).

Highest share of electric cars: Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark

Regions in the Netherlands and Sweden stood out among EU regions for the highest share of electric cars in the total passenger vehicle fleet. The highest shares were recorded in Flevoland in the Netherlands (17.1%), Stockholm in Sweden (10.7%), Hovedstaden in Denmark and Utrecht in the Netherlands (both 8.6%).

Among the 10 regions with the highest share of electric cars, 5 were in Denmark, 2 in the Netherlands, 2 in Sweden and 1 in Belgium. In contrast, of the 10 regions with the lowest percentage of electric cars (close to zero), 6 were in Greece, 2 in Spain and 2 in Poland./ Monitor