The Automotive Industry Drives the World
Until 1769, when Frenchman Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot designed a vehicle for the French army that moved independently on roads using steam power (at about 3.3 km/h), various carts, carriages, two-wheelers, and three-wheelers were pulled by domestic animals and, in some cases, even by people. In Scotland, Robert Anderson gifted the world with the "first carriage" powered by electricity.
Then, on January 29, 1886, Karl Benz patented the first gasoline-powered car…
And the world was definitively set on wheels.
Currently, according to the latest data, there are 1.475 billion vehicles on roads across all continents. With an estimated global population of about 8.1 billion, this means there is one vehicle for every 5.4 people on the planet.
By continents, Asia (including Oceania) leads with 543 million vehicles. Europe is in second place with approximately 413 million vehicles.
North America ranks third with 359 million vehicles. South America has 84 million, the Middle East 50 million, and Africa 26 million.
Interestingly, Antarctica has 60 vehicles.
When looking at vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, North America tops the list with 710. Europe follows with 520 vehicles per 1,000 people. South America has 210, the Middle East 190, Asia 140, and Africa 58.
Excluding small territories with more registered cars than people, such as San Marino and Andorra, New Zealand has the highest number of vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants at 861.
The United States closely follows with 890 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, then Estonia with 821, Cyprus 785, Luxembourg 784, Australia 772, Canada 770, Italy 757, Iceland 720, and Poland 609.
The lowest number of vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants is in the Congo, with just four vehicles. Pakistan has 20, Vietnam 25, Kenya 30, Ghana 40, and Nigeria 50 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants.
According to OICA data, 36 countries worldwide produced vehicles on their territories in 2023. A total of 93,546,599 vehicles were manufactured, including 67,133,579 passenger cars.
The largest producer is China (with a 12% increase in 2023), manufacturing 30,160,966 vehicles, of which 26,123,577 are passenger cars. The United States ranks second with 10,611,555 vehicles, followed by Japan with 8,977,444. South Korea produced 4,243,597 vehicles. Germany did not provide total production data to OICA but reported 4,109,371 passenger cars. Mexico is rapidly climbing the ranks with 4,002,000 vehicles.
An enormous number of people are directly employed in the automotive industry, with even more connected to it indirectly. A significant portion of all countries’ budgets is financed either by the industry itself or because of it.
Consider the EU alone: more than 2.5 million people work directly in the automotive industry. They directly or indirectly provide jobs for an additional 13.2 million Europeans. This means 8.4% of all employees in the EU are tied to this sector.
In 2023, the EU automotive industry invested an impressive €73 billion in development. Vehicles worth €195.1 billion were exported, while imports amounted to €88.4 billion. A positive trade balance of €106.7 billion is something few industrial sectors in the EU can boast about.
The total EU member states' budgets exceeded €2 trillion, with 7.1% of this revenue coming thanks to the automotive industry.
According to estimates from the Serbian Statistical Office, Serbia had a population of 6,623,183 in 2023. Data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Statistical Office show that 2,684,804 vehicles were registered in 2023, including 2,389,105 passenger cars.
This means there are 2.46 people per vehicle in Serbia—over twice the global average.
Thus, Serbia has 405 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants.
As of September this year, Serbia has 2.89 million employed individuals, with around 100,000 working in the automotive industry. This accounts for 3.46% of the total workforce, a figure significantly behind the EU average.
This highlights the direction state authorities should consider, as the automotive industry remains one of the most vital and rapidly growing sectors globally, despite current challenges.
Sources: OICA, ACEA, Serbian Statistical Office
Photo: Freepik
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