Cars, vans, trucks and buses: roughly how many motor vehicles are in use on the world's roads?
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🚆 Transport · vehicles
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Answer
About 1.5 billion vehicles
The world passed its first billion vehicles around 2010. It had taken about 125 years since Karl Benz built the first practical car.
How to estimate it
Group the world by car ownership. About 1.2 billion people in rich countries own 0.6 vehicles each: 720 million. China has 1.4 billion people at 0.25 each: 350 million. The remaining 5.4 billion average about 0.08: 430 million. 720 + 350 + 430 = 1,500 million. Industry estimates agree on about 1.5 billion vehicles in use.
Source: International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA)
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