More than 3,280 new cars licensed in Donegal during 2016

A total of 3,284 new private cars were licensed in Donegal for the first time during 2016.

The figures have been released by the Central Statistic Office.

In 2016, a total of 142,688 new private cars were licensed for the first time, an increase of 17.8% compared with the previous year.

The number of new cars licensed in 2016 still remains below the most recent peak of 2007 when 180,754 new private cars were licensed.

The number of used (imported) private cars licensed rose by 46.9% to 69,381 in 2016 compared with 47,217 in 2015. This is the highest annual number of used (imported) cars licensed on record.

When compared with December 2015, the number of new private cars licensed in December 2016 fell by 18.3% to 692. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed in December more than doubled to 6,357.

Every county showed an increase in the number of new cars licensed in 2016, with 14 counties having over 3,000 new cars licensed in 2016.

Almost half (47.9%) of all new private cars licensed in the country in 2016 were licensed in Dublin (35.2%) and Cork (12.7%) combined.