Number of registered vehicles

Key Finding

The total number of registered motor vehicles shows continued and sustained growth over time. While the number of electric and hybrid vehicles registered in Queensland has risen significantly in the last 5 years, particularly passenger vehicles, they represent only 1% of all cars and light commercial vehicles.

Our growing population drives continued and sustained growth of registered motor vehicles.

The amount of travel directly affects emissions from motor vehicles — i.e. when there are more vehicles, emissions go up as well, in principle. This is particularly the case when there are more heavy vehicles (trucks, buses) as they have higher emissions compared to light vehicles. On the other hand, new emission reduction technology likely offsets or even reverses these trends for specific air pollutants, but not for greenhouse gases.

Cars make up about 67% of all registered vehicles.

Over the period 2006–2019, the proportion of light commercial vehicles and campervans has increased, while the proportion of cars, trucks and buses decreased. The proportion of motorcycles has started to decrease in the last 3 years.

There has been an 83% increase in registered hybrid electric (petrol/electric or diesel/electric fuel type) cars in Queensland over the past 5 years. The number of electric vehicles registered in Queensland has also increased, most notably for cars and light commercial vehicles (up 850% and 111% respectively since 2014).

Electric or hybrid electric vehicles still represent less than 1% of all cars and light commercial vehicles.

The data presented was extracted from the Department of Transport & Main Roads (DTMR) Transport Registration And Integrated Licensing System (TRAILS). While every care is taken to ensure the quality of this data, it is important to understand that this information is subject to change due to data cleansing and is therefore suitable for mass data analysis only (e.g. monitoring emerging trends over time).

More information:

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals’ targets

Proportion of vehicle registrations in 2019

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Vehicle Type	Registrations
Ambulance	1,152
Buses	21,860
Campervans/Motorhomes	19,437
Cars	2,922,777
Conditional Vehicles	101,279
Light Commercial	946,817
Motorcycles	213,348
Motorised wheelchairs	34,845
Trucks	99,686
Total	4,361,201

Proportion (%) of registered vehicles by type

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Vehicle Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Ambulance	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03
Buses	0.59	0.59	0.58	0.58	0.57	0.55	0.56	0.56	0.55	0.54	0.52	0.51	0.51	0.50
Campervans/Motorhomes	0.31	0.32	0.33	0.35	0.37	0.38	0.38	0.38	0.40	0.41	0.42	0.43	0.44	0.45
Cars	71.59	70.97	70.23	69.67	69.41	69.10	68.78	68.38	68.09	67.95	67.89	67.63	67.32	67.02
Conditional Vehicles	2.16	2.24	2.33	2.38	2.38	2.43	2.47	2.49	2.49	2.43	2.37	2.34	2.34	2.32
Light Commercial	18.58	18.77	19.09	19.43	19.70	19.92	20.10	20.38	20.59	20.77	20.88	21.10	21.39	21.71
Motorcycles	3.82	4.11	4.37	4.52	4.51	4.57	4.65	4.74	4.82	4.88	4.91	4.96	4.93	4.89
Motorised wheelchairs	0.35	0.38	0.41	0.45	0.49	0.52	0.55	0.58	0.61	0.65	0.69	0.72	0.76	0.80
Trucks	2.57	2.59	2.63	2.60	2.55	2.50	2.48	2.46	2.43	2.35	2.30	2.27	2.29	2.29
Total	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00

Number of registered vehicles by vehicle type

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Vehicle Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Ambulance	821	864	863	953	991	1,030	1,029	1,049	1,056	1,052	1,096	1,105	1,155	1,152
Buses	17,952	18,726	19,341	19,773	19,941	19,875	20,768	21,212	21,340	21,356	21,183	21,347	21,862	21,860
Campervans/Motorhomes	9,427	10,290	11,116	11,938	12,842	13,657	14,063	14,680	15,688	16,406	17,231	18,075	18,840	19,437
Cars	2,170,323	2,258,303	2,339,795	2,390,289	2,431,034	2,480,969	2,544,022	2,611,129	2,664,538	2,707,601	2,771,632	2,824,473	2,882,047	2,922,777
Conditional Vehicles	65,535	71,267	77,580	81,598	83,468	87,268	91,435	95,128	97,299	96,662	96,733	97,832	99,976	101,279
Light Commercial	563,210	597,225	636,011	666,713	689,782	715,186	743,389	778,209	805,615	827,802	852,275	881,050	915,806	946,817
Motorcycles	115,842	130,766	145,497	155,205	157,900	163,910	172,061	180,979	188,691	194,425	200,657	207,179	211,135	213,348
Motorised wheelchairs	10,652	12,208	13,816	15,499	17,003	18,557	20,285	22,096	23,881	25,977	28,003	30,119	32,470	34,845
Trucks	77,878	82,473	87,485	89,072	89,312	89,839	91,859	94,074	95,001	93,699	93,757	94,979	97,825	99,686
Total	3,031,640	3,182,122	3,331,504	3,431,040	3,502,273	3,590,291	3,698,911	3,818,556	3,913,109	3,984,980	4,082,567	4,176,159	4,281,116	4,361,201

Proportion of electrified vehicle registrations in 2019

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Vehicle Type	Electrified Vehicle Registrations
Ambulance	0
Buses	13
Campervans/Motorhomes	1
Cars	23,803
Conditional Vehicles	7,264
Light Commercial	78
Motorcycles	96
Motorised wheelchairs	34,558
Trucks	52
Total	65,865

Number of registered vehicles by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	464,313	513,656	573,033	624,923	678,689	737,196	808,769	891,562	963,248	1,021,825	1,086,378	1,157,530	1,238,274	1,307,310
Diesel/Electric	0	0	2	8	16	21	28	53	82	117	152	149	156	156
Diesel/Gas	58	317	748	1,137	1,354	1,487	1,678	1,696	1,691	1,614	1,558	1,520	1,445	1,372
Electric	12,949	15,069	17,440	19,728	21,527	23,641	25,467	27,605	29,613	31,977	34,503	37,197	40,001	42,911
Gas	5,766	7,290	8,788	10,090	10,673	10,508	10,197	9,967	9,632	9,179	8,797	8,407	7,872	7,346
Kerosine	5	4	3	2	3	3	3	5	4	3	3	4	3	3
Petrol	2,508,057	2,602,879	2,685,861	2,727,801	2,741,993	2,767,241	2,801,900	2,836,324	2,857,769	2,870,218	2,901,941	2,923,430	2,946,738	2,955,139
Petrol/Electric	102	393	1,130	1,776	3,091	5,642	7,856	10,447	12,488	14,536	16,587	18,187	19,722	22,798
Petrol/Gas	40,388	42,510	44,498	45,571	44,923	44,549	43,005	40,889	38,574	35,499	32,637	29,724	26,894	24,155
Steam	2	4	1	4	4	3	8	8	8	12	11	11	11	11
Total	3,031,640	3,182,122	3,331,504	3,431,040	3,502,273	3,590,291	3,698,911	3,818,556	3,913,109	3,984,980	4,082,567	4,176,159	4,281,116	4,361,201

Choose vehicle types to break down registrations by fuel type

Registrations of Ambulance by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	690	771	785	910	967	1,011	1,014	1,037	1,044	1,040	1,084	1,094	1,144	1,141
Diesel/Gas	0	3	3	3	3	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Petrol	131	90	75	40	21	16	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11
Total	821	864	863	953	991	1,030	1,029	1,049	1,056	1,052	1,096	1,105	1,155	1,152

Registrations of Buses by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	13,751	14,203	14,606	14,896	15,081	15,040	15,873	16,309	16,497	16,620	16,494	16,700	17,237	17,341
Diesel/Electric	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1
Diesel/Gas	0	3	11	19	20	23	20	21	18	18	16	11	10	8
Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	11	12
Gas	260	340	443	517	551	550	553	553	546	529	509	480	427	379
Petrol	3,772	3,913	3,943	3,908	3,818	3,753	3,789	3,775	3,717	3,633	3,611	3,626	3,664	3,637
Petrol/Gas	169	267	338	433	470	508	532	549	562	555	552	529	512	482
Total	17,952	18,726	19,341	19,773	19,941	19,875	20,768	21,212	21,340	21,356	21,183	21,347	21,862	21,860

Registrations of Campervans/Motorhomes by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	6,136	7,036	7,836	8,470	9,011	9,629	9,967	10,480	11,491	12,135	12,841	13,611	14,393	15,024
Diesel/Gas	6	17	54	68	82	78	73	84	81	77	77	79	74	76
Gas	19	17	15	14	11	10	9	9	10	8	4	3	3	3
Petrol	2,835	2,769	2,753	2,925	3,303	3,503	3,608	3,721	3,744	3,859	3,998	4,085	4,083	4,077
Petrol/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Petrol/Gas	431	451	458	461	435	437	406	386	362	327	311	297	287	256
Total	9,427	10,290	11,116	11,938	12,842	13,657	14,063	14,680	15,688	16,406	17,231	18,075	18,840	19,437

Registrations of Cars by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	105,742	119,607	138,345	155,390	178,088	201,757	231,541	263,889	293,615	319,398	347,085	375,057	402,962	424,631
Diesel/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	39	66	72	66	69
Diesel/Gas	18	75	195	311	371	415	440	468	482	470	459	449	438	413
Electric	1	1	10	16	16	35	50	76	102	170	281	445	706	969
Gas	2,974	3,794	4,511	5,177	5,439	5,197	4,787	4,437	4,054	3,609	3,295	2,913	2,534	2,206
Kerosine	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	4	3	2	1	1	1	1
Petrol	2,034,258	2,105,709	2,165,550	2,196,693	2,213,508	2,237,915	2,270,486	2,304,526	2,328,305	2,346,235	2,382,768	2,408,393	2,438,722	2,456,774
Petrol/Electric	102	393	1,129	1,775	3,091	5,642	7,856	10,447	12,485	14,528	16,576	18,175	19,713	22,765
Petrol/Gas	27,223	28,719	30,052	30,924	30,518	30,006	28,858	27,280	25,472	23,148	21,100	18,967	16,904	14,948
Steam	1	1	0	1	1	0	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1
Total	2,170,323	2,258,303	2,339,795	2,390,289	2,431,034	2,480,969	2,544,022	2,611,129	2,664,538	2,707,601	2,771,632	2,824,473	2,882,047	2,922,777

Registrations of Conditional Vehicles by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	54,991	59,439	64,183	67,097	68,536	71,652	75,608	78,917	80,626	79,676	79,413	79,861	81,658	82,644
Diesel/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	2
Diesel/Gas	11	39	95	132	175	191	184	174	172	155	149	147	135	128
Electric	2,602	3,148	3,891	4,466	4,755	5,264	5,331	5,624	5,829	6,035	6,419	6,844	7,022	7,261
Gas	655	820	1,015	1,178	1,302	1,368	1,484	1,571	1,673	1,750	1,769	1,906	1,958	1,967
Kerosine	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	2
Petrol	5,816	6,220	6,636	6,881	6,881	6,908	6,978	6,973	7,125	7,208	7,197	7,262	7,397	7,479
Petrol/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
Petrol/Gas	1,460	1,599	1,759	1,842	1,816	1,882	1,844	1,863	1,868	1,828	1,774	1,798	1,792	1,786
Steam	0	2	1	2	2	2	5	5	5	9	9	9	9	9
Total	65,535	71,267	77,580	81,598	83,468	87,268	91,435	95,128	97,299	96,662	96,733	97,832	99,976	101,279

Registrations of Light Commercial by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	208,534	233,252	262,635	291,612	320,004	350,328	384,735	428,484	466,459	500,617	536,979	577,391	624,139	667,848
Diesel/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	29	29	29	30	34	32
Diesel/Gas	20	167	360	564	653	723	902	898	891	854	816	796	753	715
Electric	3	2	4	4	5	7	6	9	9	9	7	8	9	19
Gas	1,834	2,299	2,790	3,189	3,349	3,365	3,345	3,385	3,342	3,275	3,211	3,097	2,943	2,785
Kerosine	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Petrol	341,915	350,218	358,499	359,589	354,236	349,180	343,150	334,697	324,666	313,461	302,411	291,671	280,605	268,785
Petrol/Electric	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	5	5	3	27
Petrol/Gas	10,902	11,286	11,722	11,754	11,535	11,583	11,251	10,713	10,219	9,552	8,817	8,052	7,320	6,606
Steam	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	563,210	597,225	636,011	666,713	689,782	715,186	743,389	778,209	805,615	827,802	852,275	881,050	915,806	946,817

Registrations of Motorcycles by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	2	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Electric	4	19	22	38	40	62	78	74	70	69	77	71	72	96
Gas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Petrol	115,833	130,743	145,470	155,163	157,858	163,846	171,981	180,903	188,620	194,355	200,578	207,106	211,061	213,251
Petrol/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0
Petrol/Gas	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
Total	115,842	130,766	145,497	155,205	157,900	163,910	172,061	180,979	188,691	194,425	200,657	207,179	211,135	213,348

Registrations of Motorised wheelchairs by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Diesel/Gas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Electric	10,339	11,899	13,513	15,204	16,711	18,273	20,002	21,817	23,602	25,693	27,718	29,829	32,181	34,554
Gas	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Petrol	237	235	232	225	223	217	216	214	211	217	216	221	221	222
Petrol/Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	5	5	4	4
Petrol/Gas	71	70	67	66	65	63	63	61	61	60	60	60	60	59
Total	10,652	12,208	13,816	15,499	17,003	18,557	20,285	22,096	23,881	25,977	28,003	30,119	32,470	34,845

Registrations of Trucks by fuel type

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Fuel Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Diesel	74,464	79,344	84,638	86,543	86,999	87,776	90,028	92,443	93,513	92,336	92,479	93,813	96,738	98,678
Diesel/Electric	0	0	2	8	15	20	27	30	35	48	55	45	53	52
Diesel/Gas	3	13	30	40	50	54	56	51	47	40	41	38	35	30
Electric	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
Gas	22	19	13	14	20	17	18	11	6	7	8	7	6	5
Petrol	3,260	2,982	2,703	2,377	2,145	1,903	1,680	1,503	1,369	1,238	1,150	1,055	974	903
Petrol/Gas	129	115	99	89	82	68	49	35	29	28	22	20	18	17
Steam	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Total	77,878	82,473	87,485	89,072	89,312	89,839	91,859	94,074	95,001	93,699	93,757	94,979	97,825	99,686

Download data from Queensland Government Open Data Portal

Metadata

Trend in number of registered vehicles, by vehicle type and fuel type, for the period 2006–2019, as at 30 June. Figures in millions of registrations.

NB The data prior to 30 June 2006 has been excluded for the purpose of this report.

Last updated: 15 September 2021