There are more old cars in Albania than in any other European country, according to statistics published by Eurostat.

While European countries are increasingly moving towards encouraging vehicles that do not pollute the environment, Albania has the oldest fleet in Europe.

According to Eurostat data, which belongs to the year 2022, in Albania 41% of passenger vehicles are over 20 years old, the highest in Europe.

In Kosovo, 22.6% of passenger vehicles have a production year of 20 years or more, and in Montenegro 25.6%. After Albania, the oldest cars are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 35%. By comparison, in Germany, the country from which many vehicles are imputed, only 8% of vehicles are that old, Monitor reported on Wednesday.

51% of passenger vehicles in the country have a production year higher than 10 years. In total, 99% of vehicles in the country are over 10 years old, again the highest in Europe.

The second country with the most vehicles that have been in circulation for at least a decade is North Macedonia, with 88%, while the youngest in the region are the cars in Kosovo, with 75%. (data for Serbia are missing). In Italy, this share is 59%, while in Germany 40.5%.

In contrast, Albania has the lowest share of new vehicles, with less than two years of production, with only 0.78% of the total, from 2.63% which is this share in Kosovo and 15.4% in Germany.

1.67% of vehicles in the country are between 2-5 years old and 5.53% are between 5-10 years old.

According to Eurostat, the percentages of younger passenger vehicles (less than 2 years old) were highest in Luxembourg (18.4%), Germany (15.4%), Sweden (14.5%), Belgium and Ireland (both 13.1 %) and Austria (13.0 %)). In contrast, some Member States reported a large share of 'old' passenger cars (20 years and older) in 2022. The Member States with the highest percentages were Estonia (34.1 %), Romania (31.0 %), Finland (30.4%), Poland (29.3%), Portugal (26.4%) and Malta (25.6%).

According to Eurostat, in recent years, some countries have offered programs that support the purchase of new low-emission cars while giving up older cars.

The overall goal of these programs has been to renew the passenger car fleet with lower-emission cars while stimulating the economy. These programs have had a definite impact on the age composition of passenger cars in particular countries.

Albania, in addition to having the highest weight of old cars, also dominates diesel cars, which are the biggest polluters. According to Eurostat, Albania and Kosovo have the highest weight of vehicles that run on diesel in Europe, with about 74% of the total Albania and about 82% Kosovo for the year 2022. Polluted air, Albania and Kosovo have more diesel cars than all of Europe

Of the approximately 639,000 vehicles in the country in 2022, approximately 471,000 are diesel-powered. About 17% of vehicles (108 thousand) fell with gasoline and 59 thousand with alternative energy, or 9.3%. Electric cars in 2022 in the country had less than 1300, according to Eurostat data.