GLOBAL electric vehicle (EV) registrations grew 20 percent last year but are likely to lose pace in 2026, data showed on Wednesday, as a slowdown in China and a relaxation of electrification targets worldwide led in December to the smallest sales increase since February 2024.
Monthly registrations of EVs, including battery electric and plug-in hybrids, dropped further in North America after the end in October of an EV tax credit scheme in the United States, consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) said.
Why it’s important
Radical policy shifts, including US President Donald Trump’s U-turn on electrification and a relaxation of emission standards in the European Union, shook the global EV market in 2025 into a “virtually unrecognizable landscape,” according to BMI data manager Charles Lester.
Rising competition in Europe and cooling demand in China are likely to intensify the debate between electrification proponents who emphasize the need to curb planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions, and carmakers who say a quick transition threatens jobs and profit.
By the numbers
Global EV registrations, a proxy for sales, rose by 6 percent to almost 2.1 million units in December, reaching 20.7 million vehicles in 2025, the data showed.
They were up by 2 percent in China to more than 1.3 million, the lowest year-on-year increase since February 2024, leading to a 17-percent increase to 12.9 million units in 2025. The country produced 71 percent of EVs sold worldwide.
North American registrations fell by 39 percent to just over 100,000 cars sold, following similar declines in October and November at the end of US tax credits. They were down 4 percent for the entire 2025.
Europe was up by 34 percent in December to over 450,000 registrations and by 33 percent in the year, while in the rest of the world sales were up by 41 percent to over 160,000 units in December, and by 48 percent in 2025.
What’s next?
BMI expects 23.9 million EVs will be sold globally this year, a 15.7-percent increase, with growth sharply accelerating in China to 21 percent and slowing in Europe, and the rest of the world to 15 percent and 26 percent, respectively. It forecasts a sharper decrease of 23 percent in North America due to a 29-percent slump in the US.
