More than 20% of new cars sold worldwide were electric

Electric car sales topped 17 million worldwide in 2024, rising by more than 25%.1 Just the additional 3.5 million cars sold in 2024 compared to 2023 outnumber total electric car sales in the whole of 2020. China maintained its lead among major markets, with electric car sales exceeding 11 million – more than were sold worldwide just 2 years earlier. Global sales were slightly tempered by stagnating growth in Europe, as subsidies were phased out or reduced in several major markets, and as the EU CO₂ targets for cars remained the same between 2023 and 2024. Electric car sales continued to increase in the United States although growth was about one-quarter that of the previous year. Significantly, outside of these three major markets, there was a record increase in sales of nearly 40% to reach 1.3 million, closing in on the United States’ sales of 1.6 million electric cars.

The rapid growth in electric car sales over the past 5 years has had a significant impact on the global car fleet: At the end of 2024, the electric car fleet had reached almost 58 million, about 4% of the total passenger car fleet and more than triple the total electric car fleet in 2021. Notably, the global stock of electric cars displaced over 1 million barrels per day of oil consumption in 2024. Of course, the stock of electric cars is not spread evenly across the world – in China, for example, around one in ten cars on the road is now electric, whereas in Europe the ratio is closer to one in twenty. 

Almost half of China’s car sales were electric in 2024, representing almost two-thirds of electric cars sold globally

Electric car sales in China increased by almost 40% year-on-year in 2024, further driving up China’s share of global electric car sales. In 2021, China accounted for half of global electric car sales; this share grew to almost two-thirds in 2024. On a monthly basis, sales of electric cars have overtaken conventional car sales in the country since July 2024, bringing the share of electric car sales close to 50% for the full year. In China, 2024 marks the fourth consecutive year in which the electric car sales share grew by approximately 10 percentage points year-on-year.

The growth in China reflects in no small part the growing price competitiveness of battery electric cars with conventional cars in the country. In addition, China’s electric car market benefitted from the introduction of a trade-in scheme in April 2024. The scheme, which is part of a wider economic stimulus package, applies to the purchase of conventional and electric cars alike, but with different levels of financial support. It offers CNY 20 000 (Yuan renminbi) (USD 2 750) for consumers that replace an older vehicle (conventional or electric) with a new electric car, and CNY 15 000 (USD 2 050) for replacement with a new conventional vehicle. In 2024, about 6.6 million consumers applied for the incentive, 60% of whom bought an electric car. As such, more than one-third of the over 11 million new electric car sales in the country benefitted from this incentive.

In recent years, sales of plug-in hybrid electric cars have been growing faster than sales of battery electric cars in China. The share of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales, excluding extended-range EVs (EREVs)2, in China’s total electric car sales has risen from about 15% in 2020 to nearly 30% in 2024. Meanwhile, the share of EREVs has more than quadrupled since 2020, surpassing 10% in 2024. The acceleration of PHEV sales in China led the share of electric car sales that are battery electric to fall from 80% in 2020 to below 60% in 2024, though in absolute terms battery electric car sales increased sevenfold over the same period, demonstrating their continued appeal to new customers.

In Europe, electric car sales stagnated in 2024 as policy support waned in major car markets

About one in five new cars sold on the European market was electric in 2024, maintaining the sales share of the previous year. The electric sales share increased in 2024 in 14 out of 27 EU member states, while it either stalled or decreased in the rest, including in several larger markets, such as Germany and France, largely as a result of subsidies being phased out or reduced. In Germany, subsidies ceased at the end of 2023, while France has progressively reduced its subsidy over the years. At the start of 2024, France limited the amount of environmental bonus available to higher-income car buyers and reduced the number of vehicles eligible for the subsidy.

Besides subsidies, the policy design of the European Union CO₂ standards may also have held back further growth of the electric car market in 2024. As new targets come into effect every 5 years, car makers had no incentive to push sales of electric cars further in 2024 (in anticipation of strengthened targets in 2025). This is in contrast to markets such as the United Kingdom, where annually increasing targets move original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) towards electrification each year. In March 2025, the European Commission published its Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector, in which it proposed to amend the CO₂ emission performance standards for cars and vans, granting them additional flexibilities by averaging their performance over a 3-year period.

In the United Kingdom – the second-largest car market in Europe – electric car sales reached a share of nearly 30%, up from 24% in 2023. The year 2024 was the first under the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme, which required 22% of all new registrations to be BEV or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). When accounting for the scheme’s flexibilities, which allows OEMs to borrow credits from future years, they were able to comply with a battery electric car sales share of close to 20%. Norway reached near-total electrification of sales, with 88% of car sales being battery electric and just under 3% plug-in hybrid. As a result of the growing stock of electric cars, Norway’s oil consumption for road in 2024 decreased by 12% compared to 2021. From April 2025, a tax increase on conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and PHEVs is expected to further increase the battery electric share towards meeting the Norwegian government’s 2025 goal of 100% zero-emissions car sales. In Denmark, the electric sales share increased by 10 percentage points to reach 56%, with nearly 100 000 electric cars sold. 

The market share of electric cars continued to expand in the United States

In the United States, electric car sales increased to 1.6 million in 2024, with the sales share growing to more than 10%. However, growth in electric car sales slowed down significantly in 2024, increasing by just 10% compared to 40% in 2023. In spite of this, electric car sales did boost the overall car market, as sales of conventional cars stagnated.

A total of 24 new electric car models were launched in 2024, increasing model availability by 15% compared to 2023, providing consumers with more choices and further increasing competition. While the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 have been the two best-selling models in the United States since 2020, the 110 new models that have entered the market since then have driven the market share of Tesla down from 60% in 2020 to 38% in 2024. Furthermore, 2024 was the first year in which Tesla saw a drop in sales in the United States, while other OEMs saw sales increase by 20% on aggregate.

A modification to the US Clean Vehicle Tax Credit at the start of 2024 enabled buyers to receive an instant discount (up to USD 7 500 for a new electric car and USD 4 000 for a used electric car) at the point of sale, which may have served to entice interested buyers. However, not all electric cars were eligible for the credit: in 2024 about 20 electric models (not accounting for different trim levels) out of a total 110 were eligible, which translated to over half of US electric car sales. The real share that benefitted from the tax credit may be even higher. In 2023, provisions were introduced on leased electric cars to reclassify them as commercial vehicles, thereby making them eligible for the tax credit without having to meet requirements on local manufacturing. As a result, by 2024, nearly half of all EVs sold were leased, more than double the share seen 3 years earlier. In addition to the federal tax credit, in 2024, 27 states offered additional incentives, rebates and exemptions promoting electric car adoption.

Electric car sales shares doubled in a number of emerging markets

In emerging and developing economies in Asia, Latin America and Africa, electric car sales increased by over 60% year-on-year in 2024, and the sales share almost doubled from 2.5% to 4%. This rapid growth has been strengthened by policy incentives and the growing presence of relatively affordable electric cars from Chinese OEMs.

Emerging and developing economies in Asia (excluding China) saw a large increase in electric car sales, reaching almost 400 000 in 2024, up over 40% from 2023. However, in India, total electric car sales and their share of sales increased only slightly, approaching 100 000 (or 2%) in 2024. Thailand remained the largest EV market in Southeast Asia, despite a 10% drop in electric car sales. This decline was outweighed by an even steeper 26% drop in conventional car sales, largely due to stricter lending criteria, meaning the electric sales share rose to 13% in 2024, up from 11% the previous year. Within the region, Indonesia and Viet Nam also stood out, respectively tripling and nearly doubling their sales numbers and reaching sales shares comparable to countries such as Spain or Canada. In many Southeast Asian countries, BEVs are the most popular electric car type, with over 90% of all electric car sales being fully electric.

In Latin America, sales volumes and penetration rates doubled in many countries, with electric cars reaching a market share of 4% in 2024. Brazil towered over other countries in the region with nearly 125 000 electric car sales, more than twice the number of 2023 sales, and the electric sales share doubled to 6.5%. Costa Rica, Uruguay and Colombia also achieved impressive sales shares of around 15%, 13% and 7.5%, respectively. These increases are in large part the result of government incentives such as tax exemptions, reduced registration fees, a relaxation of traffic restrictions for EVs, and relatively high fossil fuel prices.

In Africa, electric car sales more than doubled to reach nearly 11 000 in 2024. Sales shares remained low, at under 1%, though there was growth in several countries, such as Morocco and Egypt, where new electric car sales increased to more than 2 000. 

Emerging electric car brands are seeing local and even international success

Recent years have seen the birth of several new electric car brands in emerging markets, such as VinFast in Viet Nam, Togg in Türkiye, and Tito in Argentina, helping to drive up sales. In Viet Nam, local brands underpinned the near doubling of the electric sales share in 2024 to reach 17%. VinFast has also started to export to 11 different countries, with the largest share of exports going to Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia (44%) and Malaysia (22%), but also to the United States (22%). The company has announced plans to double domestic production in Viet Nam, as well as expanding manufacturing into India and Indonesia.

Türkiye continues to deploy the domestically produced Togg electric cars, increasing its total production by 50% year-on-year. The increase in domestic production and in imports resulted in the country reaching an electric sales share of 10% in 2024. In July 2024, the Turkish government announced a USD 5 billion package to boost its annual production to 1 million electric cars per year.

India’s electric car market is predominantly supplied by Indian OEM Tata. In addition, at the end of 2023, Indian steelmaker JSW signed a joint venture with SAIC Motor, a Chinese OEM, to work together on car production under the name MG Motor. In 2024, the joint venture produced about half of its electric cars sold in India domestically, while the other half were imported from China. At the end of 2024, JSW also announced the launch of its own EV brand, and is in talks with partners such as BYD and Geely regarding collaboration on technology transfer. 

Overseas expansion plans of Chinese producers, prompted by changes to import tariffs, drove sales in emerging markets

Another notable trend from 2024 was the numerous manufacturing announcements from Chinese OEMs in countries such as Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, where temporary exemptions from import tariffs for electric cars are coming to an end. In 2024, electric car sales in Brazil more than doubled, with over 85% of new electric cars coming from China. A key factor behind this impressive growth was electric cars being exempt from import duties of 35%, though this exemption started to be gradually removed in 2024 and is set to end by the middle of 2026. By then, automakers BYD and GWM will have begun producing models in Brazil, with a range tailored to the Brazilian market, such as BYD’s Song Pro, which will be flex-fuel compatible.   

In Thailand, Chinese imports play a key role in electrification, accounting for 85% of electric car sales. However, as in Brazil, this share is expected to decline due to changes introduced in the EV 3.5 program, under which import taxes on electric cars will be reintroduced at the end of 2025 and existing subsidies of up to THB 100 000 (Thai baht) (USD 2 800) per imported car will be gradually phased out. To continue to qualify for the exemption and subsidy, OEMs must commit to producing at least two battery electric vehicles (BEVs) domestically by the end of 2026 for every imported BEV sold in 2024 and 2025.

In Indonesia, electric car sales tripled in 2024 while the conventional market contracted by 20%, leading to an electric sales share of over 7%. The government has supported adoption by reducing the VAT rate on electric cars from 11% to 1% since 2023. However, what has potentially had an even greater impact on reducing the cost of electric cars for Indonesian buyers – and thus stimulating EV sales – has been the government waiving import taxes for EVs from car makers that invest in local electric car manufacturing from the start of 2024. Chinese car manufactures such as BYD and GAC Aion profited from this reduction, as did European OEM Stellantis. As a result, Chinese electric car imports increased 18-fold to 34 000 by the end of 2024.

In Malaysia, electric car sales more than doubled in 2024 and the sales share increased from less than 2% in 2023 to nearly 4% in 2024. Much of this success is due to imported electric cars being exempt from import taxes and excise duties until the end of 2025. Ahead of the tax exemption ending, Chinese car producer Geely, together with Proton (a Malaysian automotive company), will start domestically producing the e.MAS 7 by the end of 2025, backed by an investment from Geely. Malaysian OEM Perodua will also start producing its first electric car at the end of 2025, with a price of RM 80 000 (Malaysia ringgit) (USD 18 000).

More affordable electric cars and local policies have reshaped the EV landscape in more emerging markets

Policy measures such as tax incentives for electric cars contributed to the doubling of electric car sales seen in Colombia and Costa Rica in 2024. Colombia also proposed to increase import tariffs on all hybrid vehicles at the end of 2024, in a push to shift more sales towards BEVs. More than 70% of all electric cars sold in these two countries were imported from China, with Chinese imports to Colombia more than tripling in 2024, while imports from other countries grew by just 30%. In Uzbekistan, electric car sales shares doubled and the average price of an imported electric car fell almost threefold between 2023 and 2024.

In Africa, local policies and changing trade regimes are reshaping the electric car market. Developments such as the ban on imports of petrol and diesel cars introduced in Ethiopia at the start of 2024 have resulted in a reported deployment of 100 000 electric vehicles.3 While model availability appears to be reasonable in the country, there are reports that garages struggle to source components for repairs, and that deployment of chargers outside of the capital has not kept pace with electric car sales. In Morocco and Egypt, efforts by car manufacturers to expand their production lines for batteries and/or electric cars in order to facilitate exports to the European Union have also pushed up domestic deployment, with the sales share reaching just under 2%. Nigeria is now looking into strengthening its EV manufacturing capacity with support from Morocco, and in 2024, signed the Zero Emission Vehicles Declaration to work towards all new sales of cars and vans being zero emission by 2040.

Electric car sales increased 35% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024

More than 4 million electric cars were sold in the first quarter of 2025 as sales grew by 35% compared to the first quarter of 2024, which was higher than the growth rate observed in the first quarters of the previous 2 years. Over 1 million more electric cars were sold in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 and about 60% of these were sold in China. 

Between January and March 2025, China averaged monthly sales of around 875 000 electric cars, with total sales of more than 2.5 million. While the electric sales share was less than 45% in January, it reached more than 50% in both February and March. Across the full first quarter, the share of electric car sales was similar to that of 2024.

In Europe, electric car sales reached more than 900 000 in the first quarter of 2025, 625 000 of which were sold in the European Union. The electric sales share has also been increasing, averaging one in four cars sold in Europe in the first three months of 2025. In the United Kingdom, electric cars represented 30% of cars sold in the first quarter, while in the European Union the share was less than 25%.

More than 360 000 electric cars were sold in the United States in the first three months of 2025, around 10% more than during the same period the previous year. Total car sales grew at a similar rate, meaning the electric car sales share in the United States remained around 10%, the average across 2024.

In Canada, the federal government's iZEV incentive programme, which has supported electric car adoption with rebates of up to CAD 5 000 (Canadian dollars) (USD 3 500) since 2019, was paused in January 2025 as programme funds had been fully committed. Despite this, electric cars sales still grew by around 10% in the first quarter, in part because some province-level subsidies remain available.

Several emerging electric car markets continued to see strong growth in the first quarter of 2025. In Brazil, for example, electric car sales exceeded 30 000 across the first three months of 2025, 40% more than during the same period in 2024. Sales in India grew 45% year-on-year, nearing 35 000 electric car sales for the first quarter of 2025. Electric car sales in Viet Nam also approached 35 000 for the first quarter – nearly four times as many as were sold during the first quarter of 2024 – leading sales across Southeast Asia to double to over 100 000 between January and March 2025. 

Electric car sales are expected to exceed 20 million in 2025, representing one-quarter of total car sales

For the full year 2025, electric car sales are expected to increase by 25% globally, which is similar to the growth rate from the 2024. As a result, electric car sales top 20 million worldwide. While sales volumes may be impacted by economic and policy uncertainties, more than one in four cars sold in 2025 is expected to be electric.

Building on strong sales in the first quarter of 2025, China is expected to sell over 14 million electric cars across the full year – more than were sold globally in 2023. Sales of both electric and conventional cars are supported by the extension of the trade-in scheme for older vehicles. The sales share of electric cars in China is expected to reach around 60% in 2025.

The European Commission announced in March 2025 that OEMs would be given flexibilities in meeting the 2025 CO₂ targets for cars and vans. On this basis, OEMs now only need to achieve the 15% emissions reduction target (compared to the 2021 baseline) on average over 2025-2027. This announcement was made in response to auto industry claims that the 2025 target would be unachievable, and would thus incur significant financial penalties that would damage the already struggling European auto industry. As yet, it is unclear how different OEMs will approach meeting the 3-year average target, in terms of the degree of under-performance that could be accepted in 2025 but would then need to be compensated for in the following 2 years.

The new phase of the CO₂ targets in the European Union is expected to drive up electric car sales, although the new flexibilities mean OEMs have less of an incentive to bring lower-priced electric cars to market this year. Given that a purchase premium for electric cars persists in Europe, the phase-out of EV purchase subsidies in some European countries could place downward pressure on sales, but there are signs to the contrary. At the end of 2024, the electric car purchase subsidy in the Netherlands came to an end, but electric car sales in the country in the first quarter of 2025 were about 10% higher than during the same period of 2024. In Italy, direct purchase subsidies for electric cars are no longer being renewed after 2024, though the government does aim to support the domestic production of EVs. In the first three months of 2025, electric car sales in Italy were up almost 50%.

Over the course of the year, electric car sales are expected to reach around 4 million across Europe. In line with this, the share of electric cars sales would increase several percentage points compared to 2024, to around 25%. The increase in electric car sales across Europe is boosted by the UK Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme, which sets the target of 28% battery electric car sales in 2025.

In the United States, Executive Order 14154 directed the government to reconsider market interventions that favour EVs. Legislation has since been proposed that would end the Clean Vehicle Tax Credit for both cars and light commercial vehicles. In 2025, this proposal may result in consumers that have been considering buying an electric car rushing to do so before the tax credit is removed. A dampening effect on EV sales in the United States is expected only once the tax credit is repealed, and the timeline for that is uncertain. In addition, tariffs for conventional and electric cars have also been announced, which may result in lower car sales. For the full year, electric car sales in the United States are expected grow almost 10% in 2025, with a slight increase in the electric car sales share.

Across the rest of the world, electric car sales are expected to grow by over 30% to around 1.8 million. This would mean electric cars account for 6% of all car sales outside of the three major EV markets in 2025, up from 5% in 2024. The strong growth seen in Southeast Asia and Brazil is expected to continue, reaching sales of more than 0.5 million combined in 2025.

As electric car sales have grown over the past decade, government spending per vehicle, in the form of purchase subsidies and tax incentives, has steadily declined – a trend that accelerated in 2022 as subsidies were phased out.

In 2024, government spending accounted for less than 7% of total spending on electric cars globally, compared to 20% in 2017. In absolute terms, annual government spending on electric cars has hovered around the USD 38 billion mark since 2022. At the same time, total consumer spending on electric cars globally has grown continuously to reach USD 560 billion in 2024.

China has had the largest absolute public spending since 2020, despite its subsidy scheme coming to an end in December 2022 after 12 years. Other incentives have remained in place – notably, electric cars being exempt from the 10% purchase tax that applies to other vehicles. In 2024, China introduced a trade-in subsidy with a higher premium for the purchase of EVs. The additional expenditure to support EV purchases is estimated to be around USD 2.7 billion for 2024.4 Nevertheless, Chinese government expenditure per vehicle dropped 25% between 2022 and 2024. China has the highest share of subsidies going to PHEVs, at nearly 45%, as a result of the 10% purchase tax exemption being applied to PHEVs, which are on average more expensive than BEVs. In contrast, government incentives for PHEVs have almost disappeared from other key markets.   

In Europe, subsidy schemes were significantly reshaped in 2023 and 2024. The most abrupt change was in Germany, where the EUR 4 500 per-vehicle subsidy was reduced to zero as of December 2023 – which was followed by a drop in EV market share of 4 percentage points in 2024. As a result, the German government has introduced new tax benefits for companies buying EVs, effective from July 2024 through to 2028. Company cars account for about two-thirds of registrations in the country.

In the United Kingdom, all subsidies were removed at the end of 2022 but electric car sales have continued to increase, thanks in part to the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes, which set targets for zero-emission car sales starting from 2024. In addition, the growth in EV sales was underpinned by a set of tax rebates for company cars, which represented about 60% of total car registrations in 2024. When factoring in all government tax incentives, an ICE car would incur more than 10 times the company car tax of an equivalent BEV, compared to Germany where this ratio is around 4.

Similarly, Sweden ended its subsidy programme offering up to SEK 60 000 (Swedish kronor) (USD 5 800) per electric car in November 2022. Absolute volumes of electric car sales in the country decreased 10% in 2024, though the country’s EV sales share fell only very slightly due to a drop in overall car sales. In several other European countries, subsidies were either reduced in absolute terms, or their conditions have become more stringent, with a faster roll-back of subsidies for PHEVs. As a result, the average subsidy per vehicle in Europe has fallen rapidly, from more than USD 4 500 per vehicle in 2022 to around USD 1 000 in 2024. The phase-down or interruption of subsidy schemes in Europe has had differing consequences on EV market shares at the national level, but the rapid decrease in subsidies has not been followed by an equivalent decrease in EV market share, providing an encouraging sign of market resilience.

In the United States, the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act expanded the number of vehicles eligible for tax credits in 2023. However, the list of vehicles eligible for the USD 7 500 tax credit has since changed repeatedly as Internal Revenue Service guidelines have been implemented. The average tax credit in 2024 was approximately USD 4 000 per vehicle, since not all electric cars were eligible and some were eligible for only USD 3 750. In both 2023 and 2024, the United States had the highest per-vehicle subsidy of the three major EV markets.