Iwona Konieczna Average age of cars imported to Poland. What kind of cars do Poles drive?
Table of contents
How many cars are there in Poland? The number of registered cars is growing.
Poland is recording a dynamic increase in registered passenger vehicles. According to the Central Statistical Office data, at the end of 2022 there were as many as 26 457 659 (over 26 million). Most cars drive on the streets of the:
- Masovian Voivodeship – 4 224 961 units
- Silesias Voivodeship – 2 909 744 units
- Greater Poland Voivodeship – 2 631 565 units
Total number of all cars registered in Poland from 2016 to 2022 divided by voivodeship
Source: Central Statistical Office data.
However, the average per 1 000 inhabitants is slightly different, although the Masovian Voivodeship is still in the lead. Here are the top 3 voivodeships with the highest average number of passenger vehicles:
- Masovian Voivodeship – 766.7
- Lubuskie Voivodeship – 764
- Opole Voivodeship – 753.6
How old are vehicles in Poland?
As many as 81.3% of all passenger cars registered in our country are cars 10 years or older. This number is increasing somewhat from year to year. What about new vehicles? The youngest cars, up to 1 year old, constitute only 2.81% of all passenger vehicles.
| total | up to 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | 4–5 years | 6–7 years | 8–9 years | 10–11 years | 12–15 years | 16–20 years | 21–25 years | 26–30 years | 31 years + | |
| Poland | 26 457 659 | 743 627 | 385 097 | 536 725 | 1 136 209 | 1 092 900 | 1 050 577 | 1 313 654 | 3 703 356 | 5 207 674 | 3 874 068 | 2 414 214 | 4 999 558 |
Number of all registered cars in Poland at the end of 2022, broken down by ageSource: Central Statistical Office data
What is the average age of a vehicle in Poland?
According to the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) report – “Vehicles in use. Europe 2023” – the average age of a car in Poland is 14.5 years. Only Estonians, Czechs, Greeks, Latvians and Romanians drive older cars.
However, this is quite optimistic data – according to other statistics, the average age of cars in Poland is even higher. Based on data available in the CEPIK register, the Samar Automotive Market Research Institute calculated the average at the end of 2022 to be as high as 21.15 years.
However, it turns out that just over 7 million of all passenger cars are not used anymore (some of them no longer exist). After eliminating these vehicles from the equation, the average age of a car in Poland drops to 15.88 years.
What cars do Poles import from abroad?
Poles drive increasingly older cars, most often importing these from abroad and registering them. According to the IBRM Samar report, the average age of passenger cars imported from January to October 2023 was just over 13 years, including:
- 13.92 liters – petrol
- 12.16 liters – diesel
- 5.45 liters – electric drive
Among imported used cars, the most popular brands are Volkswagen, Ford, Opel and Audi. For years, Poles have been most often importing cars from Germany.
Summary: number and average of passenger cars in Poland
Depending on the data and methodology adopted, the average age of a car in Poland is approximately 14.5–21 years. At the same time, there are more and more vehicles on Polish streets – including those imported from abroad. According to the Central Statistical Office data, the number of passenger cars registered at the end of 2022 increased by 2.27% compared to the previous year.
Sources:
https://www.acea.auto/files/ACEA-report-vehicles-in-use-europe-2023.pdf
https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ibrm-samar_ibrmsamar-park2022-polska-activity-7046727143711477760-vN-D/?trk=public_profile_like_view&originalSubdomain=pl
https://infogram.com/import-pazdziernik-2023-1h1749v5jy1nl6z?live
