Fact #841: October 6, 2014 Vehicles per Thousand People: U.S. vs. Other World Regions

The graphs below show the number of motor vehicles per thousand people for select countries and regions. The data for the United States are displayed in the line which goes from 1900 to 2012. The points labeled on that line show data for the other countries/regions and how their number of vehicles per thousand people compared to the United States at two different points in time, 2002 and 2012. For instance, the graph shows that in 2002, Eastern Europe’s vehicles per thousand people was about equal to the United States in 1935, but by 2012 it was about where the United States was in 1950. The lower part of the graph (1900-1930) is shown enlarged below the first graph.

Vehicles per Thousand People: U.S. (Over Time) Compared to Other Countries (in 2002 and 2012)

Image

Fact #841 Dataset

Supporting Information

Vehicles per Thousand People in Other Countries, 2002 and 2012
	Vehicles per 1,000 people
Country/Region	2002	2012
Africa	22.5	33.6
Asia, Far East	42.0	77.2
Asia, Middle East	84.0	124.2
Brazil	115.9	187.0
Canada	577.3	634.0
Central & South America	112.9	177.0
China	12.1	81.5
Europe, East	213.9	321.6
Europe, West	558.7	589.4
India	10.1	24.4
Indonesia	26.1	72.4
Pacific	510.2	568.5
Note: Though some countries are listed separately in this table, those countries are also included in the regional total. For instance, China is listed separately, but is also included in the Asia, Far East region.

Vehicles per Thousand People in the United States, 1990–2012
Year	U.S. vehicles per 1,000 people	Year	U.S. vehicles per 1,000 people	Year	U.S. vehicles per 1,000 people	Year	U.S. vehicles per 1,000 people	Year	U.S. vehicles per 1,000 people
1900	0.11	1923	134.90	1946	243.11	1969	533.37	1992	757.96
1901	0.19	1924	154.35	1947	262.56	1970	545.35	1993	761.94
1902	0.29	1925	173.26	1948	280.20	1971	562.45	1994	766.94
1903	0.41	1926	189.10	1949	299.56	1972	585.60	1995	770.99
1904	0.67	1927	195.77	1950	323.71	1973	615.19	1996	781.16
1905	0.94	1928	204.87	1951	337.14	1974	632.32	1997	776.02
1906	1.27	1929	219.31	1952	340.57	1975	640.07	1998	781.20
1907	1.65	1930	217.34	1953	353.67	1976	659.47	1999	790.07
1908	2.24	1931	210.37	1954	361.40	1977	669.03	2000	800.32
1909	3.45	1932	195.38	1955	379.77	1978	690.17	2001	825.81
1910	5.07	1933	192.38	1956	387.58	1979	700.42	2002	815.73
1911	6.81	1934	199.90	1957	392.11	1980	710.71	2003	816.11
1912	9.90	1935	208.61	1958	392.17	1981	715.22	2004	829.94
1913	12.94	1936	222.62	1959	402.83	1982	713.95	2005	837.25
1914	17.79	1937	233.33	1960	410.37	1983	724.30	2006	840.69
1915	24.77	1938	229.65	1961	415.11	1984	728.20	2007	844.54
1916	35.48	1939	236.93	1962	426.06	1985	744.50	2008	841.57
1917	49.57	1940	245.63	1963	438.75	1986	753.33	2009	828.67
1918	59.69	1941	261.57	1964	451.57	1987	758.58	2010	808.43
1919	72.50	1942	244.73	1965	466.90	1988	772.92	2011	812.66
1920	86.78	1943	225.89	1966	489.34	1989	776.99	2012	807.99
1921	96.68	1944	220.23	1967	500.66	1990	773.40
1922	111.53	1945	221.80	1968	516.49	1991	760.19
Source (both tables): Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 33, ORNL-6990, Oak Ridge, TN, July 2014, Tables 3.5 and 3.6.

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