Global Electric Car Market: Sales and Market Share

How many electric cars are sold worldwide, how fast sales are growing and where demand is concentrated, based on International Energy Agency data.

Updated October 1, 2026
7 min read
4 sources
Global

Executive Summary

Electric cars have gone from a niche product to a mainstream part of the global car market in about five years. Annual sales grew from around 3 million in 2020 to more than 17 million in 2024. More than one in five new cars sold worldwide in 2024 was electric. The IEA expects sales to pass 20 million in 2025.

Key Numbers

Global sales, 2024: 17M+[1]; Electric cars sold worldwide in 2024.
Share of new car sales: 20%+[1]; Electric share of global car sales in 2024.
Sales in China, 2024: 11M+[1]; Almost half of all cars sold in China.
Expected sales, 2025: 20M+[1]; IEA projection, over a quarter of cars sold.

Charts

Global electric car sales

Electric cars sold worldwide each year, in millions. Values are rounded headline figures. 2025 is an IEA projection.

2020
3M
2021
6.6M
2022
10M
2023
14M
2024
17M
2025P
20M

Unit: million units · 2020-2025Source: [1] International Energy Agency (IEA)

Electric share of new car sales

Electric cars as a share of all new cars sold worldwide. 2025 is an IEA projection.

Unit: % · 2023-2025Source: [1] International Energy Agency (IEA)

Market Size

Measured in units sold, the global electric car market passed 17 million cars in 2024 [1], up from nearly 14 million in 2023 [2].

Global sales, 2024: more than 17 million [1]
Global sales share, 2024: more than 20% [1]
Sales in China, 2024: more than 11 million [1]

Following the IEA definition, electric cars here include both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

Historical Data

Growth has been steep. Sales roughly doubled in 2021 to about 6.6 million [3], passed 10 million in 2022, and reached nearly 14 million in 2023 [2].

The extra 3.5 million cars sold in 2024 alone was more than the whole global market in 2020 [1].

Growth

Using the rounded headline figures, unit sales went from about 3 million in 2020 [4] to more than 17 million in 2024 [1]. That is a compound annual growth rate of roughly 54% over four years. This is our own calculation, not an IEA figure.

Growth continued into 2025. Sales in the first three months were up 35% on the same period a year earlier [1].

Regional Analysis

China leads on both production and demand. Its more than 11 million sales in 2024 were higher than global sales just two years earlier [1].

China also leads in trade. It made about 40% of global electric car exports in 2024, nearly 1.25 million cars [1]. Sales growth in Europe stalled in 2024 as several major markets cut or ended subsidies [1].

Forecast

The IEA expects global electric car sales to pass 20 million in 2025, more than one-quarter of all cars sold [1]. In China, electric cars are projected to reach around 60% of total car sales in 2025 [1].

These are IEA projections and depend on policy, prices and incentives.

Methodology

All figures come from the International Energy Agency's annual Global EV Outlook reports. Where the IEA gives rounded or minimum figures, such as 'more than 17 million', charts show the stated number as a minimum. Growth rates we calculated ourselves are approximate.

Sources

[1]
Global EV Outlook 2025 / International Energy Agency (IEA) / 2025 / View source
[2]
Global EV Outlook 2024 / International Energy Agency (IEA) / 2024 / View source
[3]
Global EV Outlook 2022 / International Energy Agency (IEA) / 2022 / View source
[4]
Global EV Outlook 2021 / International Energy Agency (IEA) / 2021 / View source

Figures are reproduced from the publishers above. Calculations marked as our own are derived from these figures. Always check the original source before using a number.