Car sales exploded last year

Text Susanna Poikela
Photo Carles Rabada / Unsplash

According to Statistics Estonia, a total of 50,424 passenger cars were sold in Estonia in 2024, which is 7 per cent more than the year before. Of these, 25,746 were new and 24,678 second-hand cars. Compared to 2023, new passenger cars were registered 12 per cent more and second-hand cars 1.5 per cent more.

Rita Raudjärv, a senior analyst at the Estonian Statistical Office, pointed out that just before the car tax came into force at the end of 2024, car sales increased significantly. The rise was followed by a sharp drop right at the beginning of 2025. “On a monthly basis, car sales turned to strong growth in the second half of 2024, doubling in December compared to 2023. In December 2024, 7,046 cars were registered for the first time. In the same period in 2023, the figure was 3,394 cars,” explained Raudjärv.

In January this year, new passenger car sales in Estonia fell sharply. Only 1036 cars were sold, of which 534 were new and 502 second-hand.

In the last four years, some 50,000 passenger cars have been bought, most of them second-hand. Vehicle sales have been strongly affected by various crises in recent years. First the interest rate crisis and then the chip crisis, when the electronics needed to make new vehicles were not available. This in turn increased the purchase of second-hand vehicles. Vehicle purchases have also been affected by the increase in leasing rates.

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