Official figures show that just under 20% of new cars licensed last year were electric – up from 15% in 2022.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that, overall, 117,424 new cars were licensed last year – an increase of 16% on the 2022 figure.

Sales of new electric cars jumped by 45% to 22,493.

Sales of diesel-powered cars in 2023 fell slightly to 25,398, but the number of new petrol cars was up 27% to 38,746.

Diesel drop

Petrol-powered cars had a 33% share of the new-car market last year – up from 30% in 2022 – and diesel’s share dropped from 27% to 22%. Hybrid models now account for 17% of the new-car market.

Toyota (15,318) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in 2023, followed by Volkswagen (13,359), Hyundai (11,022), Skoda (9,453), and Kia (8,490).

Together, these five makes represent half of all new private cars licensed in 2023, according to the CSO.

Sales of used cars last year were up 8% to 50,381, while sales of new goods vehicles climbed by 23% to 29,038.

New car sales in December 2023 jumped by an annual rate of 23% to 1,064.