More car miles, electric miles rising too
New CBS figures show that the Dutch car fleet is growing and that greater sustainability does not automatically mean less traffic.
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Dutch passenger cars travelled a combined 2.3 per cent more kilometres in 2024 than a year earlier. At the same time, the number of cars grew by 2.4 per cent, and electric cars travelled more kilometres on average than petrol cars.
In its traffic figures, CBS sets out how many kilometres Dutch passenger cars travel. According to CBS, these cars covered a combined 121.96 billion kilometres in 2024. That was 2.3 per cent more than in 2023. The number of passenger cars rose by 2.4 per cent over the same period, while the average annual mileage remained virtually unchanged, according to CBS.
The increase was therefore mainly due to the larger car fleet, rather than each car travelling many more kilometres. Privately owned cars accounted for 79 per cent of all kilometres and travelled 2.2 per cent more than a year earlier. Cars registered to companies covered 2.9 per cent more kilometres, reaching a combined 25.8 billion kilometres.
- Total kilometres
- Number of passenger cars
Show the figures
| Total kilometres | Number of passenger cars | |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 0.7% | 1.8% |
| 2020 | -17.8% | 0.7% |
| 2021 | 5.8% | 1.5% |
| 2022 | 8.7% | 0.5% |
| 2023 | 4.0% | 1.5% |
| 2024 | 2.3% | 2.4% |
Electric cars travelled an average of 18,131 kilometres in 2024. That is higher than the average for petrol cars, at 11,106 kilometres, and slightly higher than for diesel cars, which travelled an average of 17,611 kilometres. These mileage figures alone do not establish anything about emissions.
CBS warns that the new series is based on an improved method and that the figures for 2024 are provisional. In a separate comparison, the agency reports that Dutch and foreign passenger cars together travelled 110.6 billion kilometres on Dutch territory in 2025, 0.6 per cent more than in 2024. That series measures something different from the kilometres travelled by Dutch cars alone.
The development shows two movements at once. Electric cars are being used more intensively, but growth in the total car fleet does not automatically mean that traffic or environmental pressure will fall. Climate policy must therefore consider not only the type of propulsion, but also the number of cars and the amount of mileage travelled.
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The figures and methodological caveats can be found in CBS publications. The text distinguishes between Dutch cars and all cars on Dutch territory.
- confirmed Dutch passenger cars travelled 2.3 per cent more kilometres in 2024. — CBS, passenger-car traffic performance. source
- confirmed The number of passenger cars grew by 2.4 per cent in 2024. — CBS table on the same publication page. source
- confirmed An electric car travelled an average of 18,131 kilometres. — CBS statistic for 2024. source
- confirmed The figures for 2024 are provisional. — CBS marks the figures with an asterisk as provisional. source