2,131 new tractors were licensed for the first time between January and December of last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This represents a decline of 8% or 179 units when compared with the whole of 2023 when the figure stood at 2,310 tractors.

The latest data published today (Tuesday, January 14) shows that 61 new tractors were licensed for the first time in December 2024, up 7% or 4 units from the 57 registered a year previously.

When it comes to used (imported) tractors the picture is more positive with 2,566 such tractors licensed for the first time in 2024.

This figure is up 2% or 56 units on the 2,510 used (imported) tractors registered during the previous year.

In December 2024, there were 152 used (imported) tractors licensed for the first time, up from 150 in the same month a year previous.

The CSO data also shows that the total number of new private cars licensed in 2024 (116,683) fell slightly in comparison with 2023 (117,424).

The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 23% to 61,838 over the same period.

In 2024, 15% of all new cars licensed for the first time (17,191) were electric compared with 19% in 2023 (22,493).

The number of new hybrid cars licensed in 2024 (25,270) rose by a quarter when compared with the same period in 2023 (20,270).

The CSO said that this has driven up the share of hybrids among new private cars from 17% to 22% in 2024.

There were 7,698 used (imported) plug-in hybrid electric private cars licensed in 2024, up 87% on the total of 4,111 licensed in 2023.

The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed year-to-date has remained relatively unchanged from 2023, reducing by 1% to 54%.

In 2024, 36,433 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 38,746 in the same period of 2023, a fall of 6%.

Comparing 2023 and 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed rose by 3% to 25,938.

There were 28,148 used (imported) petrol private cars licensed in 2024, compared with 22,515 in 2023, an increase of 25%.

The CSO said that Toyota (16,486) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in 2024, followed by Volkswagen (13,314), Skoda (11,385), Hyundai (10,721) , and Kia (8,523).

Together, these five makes represented 52% of all new private cars licensed in 2024.

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in December 2024 was Tesla Model 3 (202), followed by Tesla Model Y (57), and Mercedes Benz EQE (17).