Fact #415: March 13, 2006
Changes in Vehicles per Capita around the World
The graphs below show the number of motor vehicles per thousand people for various countries. The data for the U.S. are displayed in the line which goes from 1900 to 2004. The points labeled on that line show data for the other countries/regions around the world and how their vehicles per thousand people compare to the U.S. at two different points in time, 1994 and 2004. For instance, the top graph shows that in 1994, Western Europe's vehicles per thousand people was about where the U.S. was in 1966, but by 2004 it is about where the U.S. was in 1972. The lower part of the graph (1900-1940) is shown enlarged below the first graph.
With the exception of Africa, Canada is the only country/region shown that had a lower ratio of vehicles per thousand people in 2004 than in 1994; Africa's ratio stayed nearly the same over the ten year period. China's ratio more than doubled from 1994 to 2004.
Supporting Information
| Vehicles per 1000 People | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country/Region | 1994 | 2004 |
| China | 7.9 | 18.5 |
| Africa | 24.2 | 22.5 |
| Asia, Far East | 35.8 | 44.6 |
| Asia, Middle East | 67.4 | 85.9 |
| Central & South America | 94.0 | 112.4 |
| Europe, East | 155.7 | 223.2 |
| Europe, West | 486.8 | 570.8 |
| Pacific | 472.4 | 507.4 |
| Canada | 596.0 | 569.0 |
| Year | U.S. Vehicles per 1000 People |
Year | U.S. Vehicles per 1000 People |
Year | U.S. Vehicles per 1000 People |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.11 | 1940 | 245.63 | 1980 | 710.71 |
| 1901 | 0.19 | 1941 | 261.57 | 1981 | 715.22 |
| 1902 | 0.29 | 1942 | 244.73 | 1982 | 713.95 |
| 1903 | 0.41 | 1943 | 225.89 | 1983 | 724.30 |
| 1904 | 0.67 | 1944 | 220.23 | 1984 | 728.20 |
| 1905 | 0.94 | 1945 | 221.80 | 1985 | 744.50 |
| 1906 | 1.27 | 1946 | 243.11 | 1986 | 753.33 |
| 1907 | 1.65 | 1947 | 262.56 | 1987 | 758.58 |
| 1908 | 2.24 | 1948 | 280.20 | 1988 | 772.92 |
| 1909 | 3.45 | 1949 | 299.56 | 1989 | 776.99 |
| 1910 | 5.07 | 1950 | 322.86 | 1990 | 773.40 |
| 1911 | 6.81 | 1951 | 335.19 | 1991 | 760.19 |
| 1912 | 9.90 | 1952 | 338.06 | 1992 | 757.96 |
| 1913 | 12.94 | 1953 | 350.95 | 1993 | 761.94 |
| 1914 | 17.79 | 1954 | 358.87 | 1994 | 766.94 |
| 1915 | 24.77 | 1955 | 377.80 | 1995 | 770.99 |
| 1916 | 35.48 | 1956 | 385.71 | 1996 | 781.16 |
| 1917 | 49.57 | 1957 | 390.30 | 1997 | 776.02 |
| 1918 | 59.69 | 1958 | 390.53 | 1998 | 781.20 |
| 1919 | 72.50 | 1959 | 401.25 | 1999 | 790.07 |
| 1920 | 86.78 | 1960 | 408.80 | 2000 | 800.28 |
| 1921 | 96.68 | 1961 | 413.53 | 2001 | 825.45 |
| 1922 | 111.53 | 1962 | 424.31 | 2002 | 814.74 |
| 1923 | 134.90 | 1963 | 436.99 | 2003 | 760.04 |
| 1924 | 154.35 | 1964 | 449.81 | 2004 | 771.47 |
| 1925 | 173.26 | 1965 | 465.03 | ||
| 1926 | 189.10 | 1966 | 486.89 | ||
| 1927 | 195.77 | 1967 | 497.50 | ||
| 1928 | 204.87 | 1968 | 513.12 | ||
| 1929 | 219.31 | 1969 | 529.97 | ||
| 1930 | 217.34 | 1970 | 542.51 | ||
| 1931 | 210.37 | 1971 | 560.19 | ||
| 1932 | 195.38 | 1972 | 583.89 | ||
| 1933 | 192.38 | 1973 | 613.59 | ||
| 1934 | 199.90 | 1974 | 630.80 | ||
| 1935 | 208.61 | 1975 | 638.56 | ||
| 1936 | 222.62 | 1976 | 658.04 | ||
| 1937 | 233.33 | 1977 | 667.57 | ||
| 1938 | 229.65 | 1978 | 688.65 | ||
| 1939 | 236.93 | 1979 | 698.90 |
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