Global electric car sales hit 20 million in 2025 — one in every four new cars sold worldwide. The International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook 2026, released May 20, projects sales will climb further to 23 million units in 2026, accounting for 28 percent of total global car sales.
Around 40 countries now report EVs making up at least 10 percent of new car sales.
China and Europe Lead the Charge
China remained the world’s largest EV market by a wide margin. More than 13 million electric cars were sold there in 2025, nearly 55 percent of total car sales. Chinese automakers supplied roughly 60 percent of electric cars sold worldwide.
Europe posted its strongest EV growth in years. Sales rose more than 30 percent to 4.2 million units — 28 percent of the regional market. Stricter EU carbon dioxide emission standards, which came into force in 2025, were the primary driver. The IEA projects one in three cars sold in Europe will be electric by 2026.
In the United States, the picture darkened sharply in the final months of 2025. Congress eliminated federal EV tax credits in October. New electric car sales in the fourth quarter fell 45 percent compared to the same period in 2024. For the full year, EVs held just under 10 percent of the US market.
Emerging Markets Accelerate
Southeast Asia recorded one of the world’s largest jumps in EV adoption. Sales more than doubled to over half a million units in 2025, with Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand leading regional growth. In Vietnam, nearly 40 percent of new cars sold were electric — above most European countries.
India’s EV market remains small but is gaining momentum. Sales rose 75 percent year-on-year to around 165,000 units, nearly 4 percent of total car sales. Domestic manufacturers Tata and Mahindra accounted for roughly 60 percent of those sales.
Africa Still on the Margins
Africa’s passenger EV market remains the smallest of any region. Sales grew from around 4,000 units in 2023 to 25,000 in 2025. Egypt, Morocco and South Africa together accounted for nearly 70 percent of regional sales.
The continent’s strongest EV growth has come from two-wheelers, not cars. Sales reached about 70,000 electric two-wheelers in 2025 — more than 80 times the level recorded at the start of the decade, according to the IEA. Electric three-wheelers now account for more than 25 percent of total three-wheeler sales.
Broader EV adoption across Africa, however, faces a fundamental obstacle. A separate IEA report published in October 2025 found that nearly 600 million people across the continent still lack access to electricity.
Falling Prices, Growing Infrastructure
Battery prices fell across all major markets in 2025. In China, average electric car prices dropped more than 10 percent. In Germany, prices fell roughly 6 percent, driven by the introduction of more affordable models such as the Renault 5 E-Tech and BYD Dolphin.
Nearly 1.8 million new public charging points were added globally in 2025, bringing the worldwide total to more than 7 million stations.
Despite the record year, global EV sales slipped in the first quarter of 2026 — falling around 8 percent year-on-year to 3.9 million units. Weaker demand in China and the United States drove the decline. Europe and emerging Asian markets continued to grow.
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