Electric car sales rose in April, despite a decline overall in the number of new private cars licensed during the month, new data from the Central Statistics Office found.

But there was little difference between April and March when the figures were seasonally adjusted. Used private cars licensed rose by 3 per cent.

Overall, new car sales fell 8 per cent in April compared to the previous year, with a total of 11,930 cars licensed during the month. Of that number, 3,089 were electric vehicles (EVs), a rise of 73 per cent year on year.

That brings the share of electric vehicles licensed between January and April to 23 per cent, compared with 16 per cent in the same period of 2025.

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Petrol and diesel cars accounted for barely a third (34 per cent) of those licensed during the same period, compared to 44 per cent in 2025.

Electric car sales have been surging in recent months as fears over rising fuel costs push motorists to more eco-friendly alternatives.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles rose 3 per cent to 1,810 in April, with the year-to-date share at 15 per cent. Sales of non-plug-in hybrids, however, slid 14 per cent to 2,796 last month from 3,233 at the same time last year.

The data suggest buyers are switching from hybrids to fully electric vehicles.

Toyota was the most popular make of new private cars licensed during the month, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, Kia and Hyundai. The Toyota C-HR was the most popular make of electric car, with the Skoda Enyaq in second place.

Sales of second-hand imported vehicles strengthened again, with the number of new licences for such vehicles rising 40 per cent to 7,732. Second-hand imports accounted for 39 per cent of all vehicles licensed in April, up from 29.5 per cent in the same month in 2025.

The share of electric vehicles in this sector rose to 9 per cent, from 3 per cent in 2025.

Once second-hand imports are included in the overall number of vehicles licensed last month, the 8 per cent decline turns into a gain of almost 5 per cent.

New goods vehicles licensed were up 21 per cent year on year.