The number of used/imported tractors licensed for the first time increased by 13% last month, latest figures by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have shown.

In total, 240 used/imported tractors were licensed for the first time in March 2023 compared to 212 tractors in the previous month. In March 2022 this figure stood at 184.

New tractors licensed for the first time last month reached a total of 211, which is up by 5% on February 2023 and 201 licences. This number stood at 182 in March 2022.

The CSO published the seasonally adjusted number of vehicles which have been licensed for the first time, classified by taxation class today (Wednesday, April 12).

Vehicles licensed in March 2023

In Ireland, 19,238 vehicles were licensed for the first time last month, of which 13,252 were new vehicles, according to CSO figures.

In the first three months of 2023, 16% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric, compared with 13% in the same period last year.

Latest CSO figures show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland, CSO statistician, Nele van der Wielen said.

“The number of new electric cars licensed has risen by 39% from 5,388 in the first three months of 2022 to 7,513 in the same period of 2023.

“In the first three months of 2023, 16,292 new cars licensed were petrol cars compared with 10,981 in the same period in 2022, an increase of 48%,” she said.

Number of percentage of electric new private cars licensed for the fist time, 2017-2022. Source: CSO

At the same time, new diesel cars licensed have decreased by 5% in the same period, she said. In total, 22% of new private cars licensed for the first time were diesel compared to 26% in 2022.

The total number of new cars licensed in March 2023 increased by 33%, while used cars which were licensed for the first time last month rose by 16% on last year.

Toyota was the most popular make with 2,037 new private cars licensed in March 2023, followed by Skoda (1,633), Volkswagen (1,622), Kia (1,197) and Dacia (1,124).