In December, vehicle registrations in Germany fell by 17.36% with respect to December of 2011. In total, 227,555 cars were registered and 3,394,002 new cars were sold in the last twelve months, 3.26% less than the year before.
The breakdown of car sales figures for the month of December is:
- Commercial vehicles sold: 23,224, 24.71% less than in December of 2011.
- Passenger cars regitrations: 204,331, which represents a figure of 16.43% less than in December of 2011.
Germany is among the ten countries where the greatest number of cars have been registered in the last year, in ranking of 135 countries based on number of vehicle registrations.
A very useful variable for estimating the level of economic wealth enjoyed by Germans residents, when compared to the other countries in the ranking, is the number of vehicles sold or registered per thousand residents in the last year. With annual sales of 42.15 cars per 1,000 residents, 2.83 of them in the last month, Germany, occupies 11th place in the ranking.
As can be seen, the number of registrations per thousand residents has fallen in the last year. A drop in registrations generally indicates a fall in consumer confidence and, when it is sustained, a recession in the real economy.
Changes in German vehicle registration numbers are shown in the tables below. As several studies indicate, these changes are very much related to changes in GDP and, hence, to a country's economic situation. Sales have declined since 2002, as 3,523,465 were registered that year, as have the number of registrations per thousand residents, which that year numbered 42.69.
Here we show you the progression of vehicle registrations in Germany. You can see car registrations in other countries in en vehicle registrations and see all the economic information about Germany in en German economy.