Cyprus’ bus fleet remained one of the smallest in the European Union in 2024, something which is commensurate with its size, of according to a report released on Friday by Eurostat.
Specifically, Eurostat reported that there were 737,142 buses and motor coaches across the bloc, a total that includes trolleybuses, mini-buses and mini-coaches.
Eurostat said “the EU motorisation rate has remained stable at 1.6 buses and motor coaches per 1,000 inhabitants for the last decade”, contrasting this stagnation with the rapid rise in the number of passenger cars, which increased from 506 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2014 to 578 in 2024.
Cyprus counted 3,144 buses in 2024, placing it in the lower tier of EU member states but still ahead of Slovenia, with 3,015, Luxembourg, with 2,735, and Malta, with 2,620.
Italy had by far the largest fleet with 101,303 buses, followed by France with 94,542, Poland with 88,840 and Germany with 85,559.
In terms of buses per 1,000 inhabitants, the highest ratios were recorded in Malta at 4.6, Luxembourg at 4.0 and Estonia at 3.7.
At the opposite end were the Netherlands at 0.5, Germany at 1.0 and Austria at 1.2, highlighting stark differences in how member states structure their public transport fleets.
What is more, fleet renewal remained limited across the bloc. Eurostat said that on average, 5.1 per cent of the EU bus and motor coach fleet was renewed in 2024, based on the number of first-registered vehicles relative to all vehicles in circulation, excluding second-hand registrations.
Luxembourg led with a renewal rate of 11.6 per cent, followed by the Netherlands at 9.6 per cent and Austria at 9.5 per cent.
At the lower end, Bulgaria renewed just 0.7 per cent of its fleet, Poland 2.4 per cent and Hungary 2.5 per cent.
Cyprus recorded the lowest number of new bus registrations in the EU, with only 102 new vehicles in 2024.
This puts Cyprus’ bus renewal rate 3.24 per cent, higher than the aforementioned nations.
It ranked immediately behind Malta, which registered 107 new buses, Bulgaria with 127 and Croatia with 174.
Across the EU, 37,920 new buses were registered in total, led by France with 6,625, Italy with 6,540 and Germany with 5,382.
Meanwhile, environmental policies continue to reshape the market.
Efforts to reduce pollution in urban centres boosted the share of zero-emission buses among new registrations, reaching 17.8 per cent EU-wide, a higher level than the 13.5 per cent recorded for new passenger cars.
This amounted to 6,746 newly registered zero-emission buses and motor coaches across the bloc in 2024.
