9309.0 - Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, 31 Mar 2010 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/02/2011   
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MEDIA RELEASE
1 February 2011
Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEDT)
11/2011


Average Australian vehicle is 10 years old

The average age of vehicles on register was 10.0 years at 31 March 2010, according to findings released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Tasmania had the oldest vehicles, at 11.9 years on average, while the Northern Territory had the youngest at 8.8 years.

The number of vehicles registered in Australia crossed 16 million for the first time in the 2010 Motor Vehicle Census. On 31 March 2010, 16.1 million vehicles were registered in Australia, up 2.5% from 2009 (with 15.7 million vehicles).

There were 721.1 vehicles for every 1000 Australian residents at 31 March 2010. Western Australia had the highest rate of all states and territories with 818.0 vehicles per 1000 residents. Northern Territory had the lowest rate at 589.4 vehicles per 1000 residents.

Growth in the fleet size was seen across all states and territories, with the Northern Territory having the highest growth of 4.6 % in the twelve months until 31 March 2010. Growth in fleet size in the ACT (2.8%) and Victoria (2.6%) were also above the national average for the same period.

Motorcycle popularity in Australia continued to grow at a faster rate than any other vehicle type in the twelve months to March 2010. However, the growth in the last twelve months has slowed when compared to previous years. From 2005 to 2010, motorcycle (including scooter) registrations have had an average annual growth rate of 9.4%. In the 12 months until 31 March 2010, motorcycles only grew by 5.8%.

The increase of diesel vehicles has continued. Over the past 12 months, total diesel registered vehicles in Australia rose by 10.3%. Since 2005, the proportion of diesel vehicles has increased from 10.1% of the fleet to 13.8%, while the proportion of petrol vehicles has decreased from 87.5% to 83.0%.

Further details are in Motor Vehicle Census (cat. no. 9309.0), available free from the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>.

Media note: When reporting ABS data the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.