Electric vehicles accounted for nearly all new car sales in Norway in 2025, bringing the country to the brink of its goal of selling only zero-emission vehicles, official figures show.
Fully electric cars made up 95.9 per cent of all new passenger vehicles sold last year, according to data released on Friday by the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council. The milestone places Norway well ahead of the European Union’s target, which bans the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035.
Norway, despite being Western Europe’s largest exporter of hydrocarbons, set a non-binding national target to sell only zero-emission new cars from 2025, a full decade earlier than the EU deadline.
A total of 179,549 new passenger cars were registered in 2025, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. In December alone, electric vehicles accounted for 97.6 per cent of new car sales, underlining the pace of the transition.
Council director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen said demand surged towards the end of the year, partly driven by impending tax changes. From January 2026, the government will lower the price threshold at which new electric vehicles become subject to value-added tax, reducing it from 500,000 Norwegian kroner (€42,500) to 300,000 kroner. Plans to fully reintroduce VAT, initially scheduled for 2027, are now expected to be delayed until 2028.
Tesla strengthened its position as the leading electric car brand in Norway, capturing around 19.1 per cent of the new car market. A record 34,285 Tesla vehicles were sold during the year, reinforcing the brand’s dominance in the country.
The figures also highlight the growing presence of Chinese manufacturers in the Norwegian market. Chinese-made cars accounted for 13.7 per cent of new vehicle sales in 2025, up from 10.4 per cent the previous year, reflecting intensifying competition in one of the world’s most advanced electric vehicle markets.
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