Cars Cover Seven in Ten Kilometres of Land Travel in Europe
Silver Data Lab Research Desk · Statistical analysis · Published on 26 July 2026
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- Data source
- Eurostat
- Reference period
- 2024
- Last updated
- 07 September 2026
Key estimates
- Cars accounted for 69.2% of inland passenger transport across the EU in 2024, measured in passenger-kilometres.
- Lithuania is the most car-dependent Member State at 83.7%, followed by the Netherlands at 77.0% and Finland at 75.4%.
- Croatia is the only Member State below half, at 43.2%.
- Hungary at 53.7% and Austria at 57.6% are the only others below 60%.
- The Netherlands ranks second for car use despite its cycling reputation — because this measure counts distance, not trips.
A measure of distance, not of trips
Modal split describes how a country's passenger transport divides between cars, buses, coaches and trains. It is measured in passenger-kilometres: one person travelling one kilometre.
That construction matters more than it first appears. A short cycle to a shop and a two-hundred-kilometre drive are not weighted equally, and cycling does not appear in this indicator at all. The measure describes where distance is covered, not how often people choose each mode.
Across the EU, cars carried 69.2% of inland passenger-kilometres in 2024.
The most car-dependent Member States
Lithuania records 83.7%, the highest in the Union. The Netherlands follows at 77.0%, Finland at 75.4%, Germany at 74.6% and Italy at 74.0%.
The Netherlands in second place is the observation that catches attention, given its reputation for cycling. It is not a contradiction: cycling covers short distances that contribute little to total passenger-kilometres, and Dutch cars still cover the long ones. A country can be known for cycling and remain heavily car-dependent by this measure, because the measure is about kilometres.
The exceptions
Croatia records 43.2%, the only Member State where cars carry less than half of passenger transport. Hungary follows at 53.7% and Austria at 57.6%.
Hungary and Austria are first and second in the Union on rail, at 11.3% and 10.4% of passenger-kilometres, and that is where their displaced distance goes. Croatia is not: at 2.1% it is twenty-first of the twenty-five Member States that report both modes, so its low car share is carried by buses and coaches rather than trains.
Across the Union the two rankings are unrelated. The rank correlation between car share and rail share is close to zero, so a low car share tells you nothing on its own about the strength of a railway.
What the indicator cannot settle
A high car share can reflect geography, settlement density, the state of public transport, or income. This measure records the outcome without separating those causes, and countries at similar levels may arrive there for opposite reasons: a sparsely populated country where alternatives are impractical, and a dense one where they exist but are not used.
Share of passenger transport by car, 2024
| Country | % of passenger-kilometres | Gap to EU averagepercentage points, derived |
|---|---|---|
| Lithuania | 83.7 | +14.5 |
| Netherlands | 77.0 | +7.8 |
| Finland | 75.4 | +6.2 |
| European Unionaggregate | 69.2 | — |
| Austria | 57.6 | −11.6 |
| Hungary | 53.7 | −15.5 |
| Croatia | 43.2 | −26.0 |
What these figures cannot tell you
- Passenger-kilometres, not journeys
- One person travelling one kilometre is the unit, so long journeys dominate the measure. Short trips by any mode contribute little, which is why a country can be both cycling-intensive and car-dependent on this indicator.
- Cycling and walking are absent
- The indicator covers cars, buses and coaches, and trains. Active travel does not appear, so the shares here describe the division of motorised inland distance rather than of all mobility.
- Inland transport only
- Air and sea travel between Member States are excluded from the inland split, which affects island states and peripheral countries differently from continental ones.
- Estimation methods differ
- Passenger-kilometres by car are estimated rather than counted, using vehicle surveys and traffic models that vary between Member States. Small differences in the ranking should not be over-read.
Frequently asked questions
- What share of EU transport is by car?
- 69.2% of inland passenger-kilometres in 2024. The measure counts distance travelled, not the number of journeys, so it is not the same as the share of trips made by car.
- Which EU country is most car-dependent?
- Lithuania, at 83.7% of inland passenger-kilometres in 2024, ahead of the Netherlands at 77.0% and Finland at 75.4%.
- Why does the Netherlands rank so high despite its cycling?
- Because the indicator measures distance. Cycling covers short journeys that add little to total passenger-kilometres, while Dutch cars still cover the long ones. Cycling is not counted in this measure at all.
- Which EU country uses cars least?
- Croatia, at 43.2% in 2024 — the only Member State where cars carry less than half of inland passenger transport. Hungary follows at 53.7% and Austria at 57.6%.
Methodological note
Modal split is published by Eurostat as the share of each mode in total inland passenger transport, measured in passenger-kilometres and covering passenger cars, motor coaches and buses, and trains.
Values are for 2024, the most recent year with complete coverage of the 27 Member States at the extraction date.
The rail shares quoted for comparison come from the same dataset, extracted separately and declared below, and are the series used by the rail study on this site. The rank correlation between the car and rail rankings is computed by Silver Data Lab across the twenty-five Member States reporting both, and is reported as a correspondence rather than as a causal claim.
Source data
The underlying series can be inspected and re-downloaded from the Eurostat data browser. The filters below are the ones applied.
Modal split of air, sea and inland passenger transport
tran_hv_ms_psmod
- Filters applied:
- freq=A · vehicle=CAR, TRN · unit=PC · time=2024
- Extracted:
- 2026-08-27
- Source last updated:
- 2026-08-26
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