global light duty vehicle fleet

The factors affecting vehicle ownership at a personal level are critical in shaping the trends in overall fleet population on a worldwide basis.

Shown on the right are graphics of the global light duty fleet. While the non-OECD countries have a relatively small share today, the recent rate of vehicle fleet growth has been more than 5 percent per year, more than double that of the OECD OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Member Countries (30) Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States .

In 2005, there were about 700 million light duty vehicles worldwide; about 80 percent were in OECD countries. The pie chart provides more detail on where vehicles exist around the world. As shown, the U.S. is predominant with approximately one-third of the global total — and more than the entire non-OECD countries combined. In fact, the U.S. light duty fleet is nearly 20 times the size of China’s fleet.

As the number of vehicles continues to rise, energy efficiency will become increasingly important.