End of Trend
The years-long decline in CO2 emissions from new cars in Europe seems to have stalled. Cars emitted more on average last year than the year before.
Last year, new passenger cars emitted an average of 106.8 grams of CO2 per kilometer, according to preliminary figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA) reported earlier by the Belgian newspaper De Tijd. In 2023, cars in the European Union, Norway, and Iceland emitted an average of 106.4 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
Between 2019 and 2023, emissions from new cars decreased by 28 percent. According to the EEA, this was largely due to the growth of the electric vehicle fleet in the EU, which grew to a market share of nearly 24 percent.
According to preliminary EEA figures, the Netherlands was one of the leaders with clean new cars last year, with an average of 65.3 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer. Only Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland did better. This concerns newly sold cars, so the effect of used cars is not included.