Vehicles on Croatian Roads are Getting Older, Average Age 14.7 Years

According to data from the Croatian Vehicle Center, last year the average age of vehicles in Croatia increased from 14.59 (2022) to 14.66 years (2023), with 67 percent of all vehicles being older than ten years. However, compared to 2022, the number of first registrations has also increased.

In the category of new passenger cars, there was an increase in the number of first registrations of about 30 percent (from 44,476 to 57,953), while in the category of used vehicles, the increase is approximately 29 percent (from 62,035 to 79,914 vehicles).

Of the total registered vehicles, 66.7 percent are ten years or older, with the average age in the M1 category (passenger cars) being 13.38 years. In second place are vehicles aged six to nine years (15.63 percent), followed by vehicles aged two to five years (12.11 percent), while vehicles aged up to one year are the least represented (5.56 percent).

Of the 2,406,952 vehicles inspected last year, 428,385 were declared defective during the regular technical inspection. The average number of faults per defective vehicle is thus 5.67. A concerning fact is that a fault was found in the engine of the vehicle in 295 thousand inspected vehicles, as highlighted by the Croatian Vehicle Center.

Still, the majority of vehicles are powered by gasoline and diesel, with Zagreb and Split-Dalmatia County dominating in this regard. In Zagreb, there are 138,836 gasoline-powered vehicles registered, while in Split-Dalmatia County, there are 86,739. Diesel-powered vehicles are also most prevalent in the City of Zagreb, where 203,814 are registered, and in Split-Dalmatia County (111,906). On the other hand, the highest number of registered electric vehicles is in Zagreb (2,728) and Zagreb County (835).

Tomislav Škreblin, Assistant Director for Technical Affairs at the Croatian Vehicle Center, emphasizes that statistical data has been indicating a continuous increase in the age of vehicles for several years.

– Although the number of first registrations in the category of new vehicles is higher than last year, registrations of used vehicles still prevail. This does not necessarily mean that used vehicles are worse or of lower quality, but they certainly need to be regularly maintained and inspected. Technical inspection stations play an important role here in identifying irregularities and raising the safety level of all road participants so that only those vehicles that meet the technical safety requirements participate in traffic. We certainly welcome the increase in the number of registrations of electric vehicles, which is gradually growing year by year – said Škreblin.