Analytics, Car market, EU – Baltic States, Transport

The report presents data collected from all European Union (EU) member states, except for Cyprus and Malta, but with the addition of the European Free Trade Association countries – Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

In January of this year, 266 new automobiles were registered in Latvia, while in January of last year this number was 494, writes LETA.

The largest decrease in automobile registration out of all countries covered by the report was registered in Romania, where the fall was 84.6%. The second and third largest falls were found in Hungary and Bulgaria, where registration of new automobiles fell 54.6% and 47.5%, respectively.

Overall, 1,085,894 new automobiles were registered in January in the countries covered by the report, which is 13% more than in the corresponding month of last year.

The figure grew by 15.7% to 1,007,602 units in the 15 older EU member states, while it fell by 23.5% down to 51,266 units among the new member states.

At the same time, the number of new automobiles registered in the countries of the European Free Trade Association grew by 15.9% to 27,026 units.

In January 2010, registration of new automobiles in Latvia fell by 41% down to 439 units, while in Estonia it fell by 44.5% down to 529 units.

Among the countries covered by the report, the steepest growth in automobile registration last month was registered in Norway, where it rose by 81.2%.

Meanwhile, the steepest rise among EU countries was found in Portugal, where a 62.1% increase was registered.