Motor Vehicle Census, Australia

This release has ceasedData download

Statistics relating to vehicles which were registered on 31st January 2021 with a motor vehicle registration authority

Reference period
31 Jan 2021

Key statistics

  • There were 20.1 million registered motor vehicles as at 31 January 2021.
  • The national fleet increased by 1.7% from 2020 to 2021.
  • Toyota topped the list of passenger vehicles for the 16th consecutive year with 3.0 million registrations.
  • Diesel vehicles increased to 26.4% of the national fleet, up from 20.9% in 2016.

Final release

This is the final release of the ABS Motor Vehicle Census, Australia. The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) have been working with Austroads to establish a replacement product using data from the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System (NEVDIS). For further information see, Motor Vehicle Census 2022.

States and territories

  • An increase in registrations was reported in all states and territories.
  • Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory each reported the largest increase from the previous year (2.3%).
  • In contrast, Victoria's fleet grew the least by 0.7%.

Change in motor vehicle registrations from 2020 - 2021, by state and territory

Change in motor vehicle registrations from 2020 - 2021, by state and territory

Bar chart with 8 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying % Change. Data ranges from 0.7 to 2.3.
End of interactive chart.
  • New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland accounted for 76% of the national fleet.
  • New South Wales had the highest number of registrations with 5.9 million.
  • The Northern Territory had the lowest number of registrations with 163 thousand.

Motor vehicle registrations by state and territory, 2021

Motor vehicle registrations by state and territory, 2021

Bar chart with 8 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Motor vehicle registrations. Data ranges from 162641 to 5892206.
End of interactive chart.

Fuel type

  • Petrol powered vehicles decreased by 1.0 percentage point to 71.7% of the national fleet.
  • Diesel powered vehicles increased by 0.8 percentage points to 26.4% of all registered vehicles.

Proportion of vehicles by fuel type, 2021

Proportion of vehicles by fuel type, 2021

Bar chart with 5 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 1.5 to 71.7.
End of interactive chart.
  • There were 23 thousand electric vehicle registrations.
  • Electric vehicle registrations increased by 62.3% from the previous year.

Electric vehicle registrations from 2020 - 2021, by vehicle type

Electric vehicle registrations from 2020 - 2021, by vehicle type

Bar chart with 2 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Vehicle type.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Electric vehicle registrations. Data ranges from 294 to 20095.
End of interactive chart.
  1. Other includes articulated trucks, buses, campervans, heavy rigid trucks, light commercial vehicles, light rigid trucks and non-freight carrying trucks. 

Vehicle type

  • Light rigid trucks continued to have the largest growth rate in registrations, increasing 6.0%, followed by articulated trucks with 4.6%.
  • Passenger vehicle registrations increased by 1.2% however, their share of the fleet fell 0.4 percentage points to 73.7%.
  • In contrast, light commercial vehicle registrations increased by 3.3%, rising to 17.5% of the registered fleet.

Change in motor vehicle registrations from 2020 - 2021, by vehicle type

Change in motor vehicle registrations from 2020 - 2021, by vehicle type

Bar chart with 9 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from -3.4 to 6.
End of interactive chart.

Average age

  • Average age of vehicles across Australia increased to 10.6 years.
  • Tasmanian vehicles were the the oldest at 13.3 years.
  • The Australian Capital Territory had the youngest fleet with an average age of 9.5 years.

Data downloads

Motor Vehicle Census, Aust.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 9309.0.