October the 25th, 2026 – Despite the global climb in people buying electric vehicles, Croatia ranked at the very back of the EU when it comes to electric car purchases.
The share of fully electric cars among new cars is growing around the world, and in many countries it has reached record levels. Vedran Salvia reports for Index that this is clearly shown by the latest data from the international energy organisation Ember, which analysed car sales on global markets. Croatia is significantly lagging behind the other EU countries.
croatia is at the very back of the eu
According to Ember’s analysis, which tracks the share of fully electric cars (BEVs) among newly registered cars, Croatia recorded its own record during 2026, but despite that remained in last place in the European Union. From March to August such cars accounted for around 4.3 percent of all new registrations in Croatia. The data are based on rolling six-month periods because this presentation allows clearer tracking of trends.
The research covered 56 countries, while 49 of them are shown on the interactive chart, i.e. only those that achieved record shares during 2026. The difference between Croatia and the European leaders is extremely large. In Norway, which is not a member of the European Union, the share of fully electric cars reached as much as 97.8 percent, in Denmark 79.8 percent, in Finland 49.7 percent, in the Netherlands 42.8 percent and in Sweden 40.8 percent. The European Union average was 22.5 percent, more than five times higher than in Croatia. As for the EU members that are not shown on the chart, these are Poland and Romania, which did not achieve record shares of electric cars during 2026. However, both are ahead of Croatia. From March to August the share of fully electric cars among new registrations was 4.8 percent in Poland and 7.4 percent in Romania.
why is croatia lagging so much?
One of the reasons for the weaker sales of electric cars across Croatia could be their high price, especially in relation to average local purchasing power. That Croatian buyers are largely turning to used vehicles is also shown by data from the Croatian Vehicle Centre, according to which more used cars are imported into Croatia than new ones are registered, while the average age of passenger cars is more than 13 years. The European Commission in its 2026 report on Croatia also warns of the high costs of public charging of electric vehicles, problems with different charging systems and limited possibilities for home charging, especially for citizens who live in apartment buildings.
State incentives also play an important role; they are not awarded continuously but through occasional tenders. Available funds can sometimes be used up in just a few hours. Thus in 2024 citizens reserved all 15 million euros earmarked for subsidies in only four hours, after which the Environmental Protection Fund closed the tender. Such a system makes purchase planning more difficult because citizens cannot count on the constant availability of incentives.
large market differences
There are also significant differences among the large European markets. In France the share of fully electric cars was 30.6 percent, in Germany 27.5 percent and in Italy 8.3 percent. Germany and France have in recent years been moving towards an ever higher share of electric cars, while their penetration in Italy is considerably slower. Nevertheless, the Italian market is also recording growth, especially during 2026. Looking at absolute numbers, China is by far the world’s largest market for electric cars by the number of vehicles sold and is in a category of its own. According to Ember’s data, from January to August 2026 almost 4.46 million fully electric cars were registered there, which is almost half of the total of 9.33 million registered worldwide. In the EU in the same period around 1.65 million such cars were registered.
electric cars are conquering even emerging markets
The data show that the growth in the share of electric cars is no longer limited to developed European countries and China. Among the countries with high shares, Uruguay stands out with 40.2 percent, while in Thailand the share reached 28.8 percent and in Indonesia 24.2 percent. “Strong growth outside the USA and China was key to the continued growth in electric vehicle sales. Excluding the USA and China, global BEV sales rose by an estimated 45% in the period from January to August 2026 compared with the same period of the previous year,” the research states. At the same time, electric cars in some large countries still occupy a relatively small part of the market. In India their share is 7.4 percent, in Japan 3.3 percent and in Mexico only 2.1 percent.
the usa didn’t even make it on the chart
Ember particularly highlights the example of the United States of America, which did not even make it among the 49 countries with record shares of electric cars shown on the chart. After last year’s abolition of federal support for electric vehicles, their share among new vehicles fell to only six percent in the first eight months of 2026. Looking at everything in absolute numbers of electric cars sold the USA stands considerably better. From January to August around 640 thousand such vehicles were registered there, which puts it in second place in the world, immediately behind China. However, the American car market is so large that electric cars still make up a small part of total sales. According to Ember’s analysis, as many as 49 of the 56 observed countries now have a higher share of electric cars than the USA, and during this year alone 15 countries overtook it, among them Brazil, India, Italy, Malaysia and New Zealand.
electric cars and energy security
Ember emphasises in its analysis that the spread of electric cars affects not only the car market but also the energy security of states. According to the organisation’s estimates, electric cars in oil-importing countries from March to August this year replaced oil consumption worth around 20 billion dollars.
The authors of the research conclude that the electrification of transport can reduce states’ exposure to disruptions on the oil market and sudden changes in fuel prices. “Countries that invested in electric cars before this crisis are now better protected, and their example is being followed by an increasing number of other countries. Every electric car on the road reduces exposure to volatile oil markets, and as their number grows, so does protection against future supply disruptions,” the research states.
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