Over 6,000 vehicles have been scrapped so far this year, while the total number of vehicles scrapped since 2013 stands at 52,203.

The information was tabled in Parliament by Transport and Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg in reply to a Parliamentary Question by PN MP Hermann Schiavone.

According to the data provided, 5,605 vehicles were scrapped in 2013, 3,121 were scrapped in 2014 and 7,176 vehicles were scrapped in 2015.

The number of scrapped vehicles shot up to a staggering 22,199 in 2016, then went down again to 7,963 the following year.

In reply to another PQ by Schiavone, Minister Borg said that just under 60,000 second hand cars were registered in Malta between 2013 and this year so far. 39,656 of the vehicles came from EU countries while 19,965 came from non-EU states.

During the same period of time, 55,220 brand new vehicles were registered: 7,171 in 2013, 8,0128 in 2014, 9,394 in 2015, 10,701 in 2016, 10,928 in 2017 and 8,998 in 2018 (January to September)

Earlier this month, the National Statistics Office said that, by theend of September 2018, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 382,605, an increase of 3.6 per cent over the same quarter in 2017.

Out of this total, 78.0 per cent were passenger cars, 13.6 per cent were commercial vehicles, 7.3 per cent were motorcycles/quadricycles and All Terrain Vehicle’s (ATV), while buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent.

During this quarter, the stock of licensed vehicles increased at a net average rate of 36 vehicles per day.

As at the end of September this year, 230,355 vehicles or 60.2 per cent of the total were petrol powered engines. Diesel powered vehicles reached 148,894 or 38.9 per cent of the total. Electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for 0.5 per cent of the total.