Car ownership in Portugal
Portugal had 561 passenger cars per 1,000 people in 2025. The value for 2025 is the highest in the series, which starts in 1990. The source marks a break in the series within this span, so values before and after it may not be fully comparable.
The latest value carries the source flag “Provisional”.
Portugal, 2025
561p (Provisional)
Change from 2024
+22per 1,000 people
European Union, 2025
584 per 1,000 people
Median of European Union (27 countries), 2025
571 per 1,000 people
Position in 2025
17th of 39
Car ownership in Portugal over time
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Portugal
European Union
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The chart loads when you scroll to it. The table below shows the same data.
The chart shows a calculation from the published values. The table below keeps the published values.
Cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Source: Eurostat. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.
| Period | Portugal | European Union |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 561 per 1,000 peoplep (provisional) | 584 per 1,000 people |
| 2024 | 539 per 1,000 people | 577 per 1,000 people |
| 2023 | 522 per 1,000 people | 570 per 1,000 people |
| 2022 | 529 per 1,000 people | 564 per 1,000 people |
| 2021 | 531 per 1,000 peopleb (break in time series) | 561 per 1,000 people |
| 2020 | 535 per 1,000 people | 556 per 1,000 people |
| 2019 | 525 per 1,000 people | 548 per 1,000 people |
| 2018 | 511 per 1,000 people | 539 per 1,000 people |
| 2017 | 490 per 1,000 people | 530 per 1,000 people |
| 2016 | 469 per 1,000 people | 518 per 1,000 people |
| 2015 | 456 per 1,000 people | 508 per 1,000 people |
| 2014 | 452 per 1,000 people | 506 per 1,000 people |
| 2013 | 414 per 1,000 people | 501 per 1,000 people |
| 2012 | 406 per 1,000 people | 497 per 1,000 people |
| 2011 | 447 per 1,000 people | 494 per 1,000 people |
| 2010 | 444 per 1,000 people | 487 per 1,000 people |
| 2002 | 554 per 1,000 people | – |
| 2001 | 533 per 1,000 people | – |
Flags: b break in time series; p provisional . A dash means no value was published.
In short
- That is a change of +22 from 539 per 1,000 people in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 456 per 1,000 people, the figure has changed by +105. The source marks a break in the series during this period, so part of the change may come from a change in method.
- Among the 39 countries with data for 2025, Portugal has the 17th highest value.
- The figure for the European Union in 2025 was 584 per 1,000 people.
More for Portugal
All statistics for Portugal
Car share of passenger transport
87.3%e (Estimated)
2024 · Eurostat
Road traffic deaths
5.5 per 100,000 people
2024 · Eurostat
Rail passenger transport
6,848 million passenger-km
2025 · Eurostat
Road share of inland freight transport
86.3%
2024 · Eurostat
New zero-emission cars
23.3%
2025 · Eurostat
Road traffic deaths
8.2 per 100,000 people
2019 · World Bank