9309.0 - Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, 31 Jan 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/07/2015   
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MEDIA RELEASE
23 July 2015
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
83/2015
Motor cycles outpace other vehicles

Motor cycle registrations in Australia continue to grow showing the fastest growth of any type of vehicle over the past five years, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

"From 2010 to 2015 Motor cycle registrations - including scooters - went up by over 22 per cent. There are now over 800,000 Motor cycles on Australia’s roads,” said Amanda Clark from the ABS.

“New South Wales has the most Motor cycle registrations with 222,111, followed by Queensland with 187,167."

Western Australia has the highest proportion of Motor cycles per head of population, at 49 per 1,000 people, while the Northern Territory has the lowest at 29 per 1,000 people.

The 2015 Motor Vehicle Census details the number of registered motor vehicles in Australia and provides information such as vehicle type, vehicle characteristics, including year of manufacture and type of fuel used.

"The 2015 Motor Vehicle Census tells us there are over 18 million registered motor vehicles in Australia in 2015, which is an increase of over two per cent since last year. This includes over 16 million cars and light commercial vehicles.”

The number of diesel powered vehicles in the Australia has also increased, with 19.7 percent of all registered motor vehicles in Australia (3,555,227) now powered by a diesel engine, this in comparison to 13.8 per cent in 2010.

For further information see Motor Vehicle Census (cat. no 9309.0), available for free download.

Media notes:

Motor vehicle registrations by State and Territory

State/Territory
Number of registered vehicles
Motor vehicles registered per 1,000 population
Australia
18,007,767
764
New South Wales
5,247,199
696
Victoria
4,567,314
779
Queensland
3,771,321
795
South Australia
1,347,514
798
Western Australia
2,185,409
844
Tasmania
450,403
875
Northern Territory
155,035
629
Australian Capital Territory
283,572
733
  • Passenger vehicles include cars, stations wagons, four-wheel drive passenger vehicles and forward control passenger vehicles containing up to nine seats (including the driver's seat).
  • Light commercial vehicles are primarily constructed for the carriage of goods. This category includes utilities, panel-vans, cab-chassis and forward control load carry vehicles with a GVM less than or equal to 3.5 tonnes.
  • When reporting ABS statistics, please attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as the source.