Change in distance travelled by car

  • The average distance travelled by car recovered to its historical level in 2021 and 2022 (+5%/year), after a sharp decrease in 2020 in most countries (-13% at EU level) . In 2022, it was still under its 2019 level (-4% for the EU).
  • Previously, the distance travelled by car decreased between 2000 and 2019 in most countries (around -1,700 km/year at EU level) with a very sharp reduction above 20% in Italy, Greece and Portugal; it had however increased in Slovenia, Poland and Croatia. In Poland, this growth is mainly due to the post-crisis recovery since 2013 (+4%/year). 
  • Large discrepancy of the average annual distance travelled by car between countries: from a maximum around 16,000 km/year for Ireland in 2022 to around 6,000 km/year in Lithuania, and on average 10,900 km/year for the EU.
  • The distance travelled is around 2,200 km lower at EU level in 2022 than in 2000, with the largest reduction observed in Italy (around 4,300 km).

Change in distance travelled by car

Change in distance travelled by car for selected countries