Which passenger cars pollute the most?

Apr 22, 2022

With the collaboration of Statista.

A line of cars waiting at a set of green traffic lights.

In 2021, most new car registrations in Germany were SUVs. Image: Unsplash/Randy Lisciarelli

Martin Armstrong

Data Journalist, Statista

Our Impact

What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Stakeholder Capitalism?

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Automotive and New Mobility is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Automotive and New Mobility

CO2 emissions from small cars are far below those from SUVs and sports cars.
However, high-polluting vehicles such as SUVs continue to increase in popularity worldwide.
But SUV manufacturers are coming under pressure as the EU is setting stricter limits for emissions from newly registered passenger cars.
Fines will be imposed on firms that do not comply with the new regulations.

On average globally, a small car emits 2,040 kilograms less CO2 per year than a pickup truck. Large SUVs and sports cars also emit particularly high levels of CO2 of course. SUVs are enjoying increasing popularity worldwide; in the home of the automobile, Germany, for example, most new registrations in 2021 came from this segment. Manufacturers' focus on SUVs may come under pressure however.

The EU, one of the leaders in pushing for more sustainable car-based travel, recently set stricter limits for emissions from newly registered passenger cars: From 2021, this will be an average of 95 grams per kilometer for a manufacturer's entire fleet. The requirements provide a strong incentive for automakers to produce and sell more fuel-efficient vehicles with lower CO2 emissions. If they do not comply with the rules, they face fines and from 2030, the limit will be lowered to 61.75 grams.

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing to help companies reduce carbon emissions?

Corporate leaders from the mining, metals and manufacturing industries are changing their approach to integrating climate considerations into complex supply chains.

The Forum’s Mining and Metals Blockchain Initiative, created to accelerate an industry solution for supply chain visibility and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) requirements, has released a unique proof of concept to trace emissions across the value chain using distributed ledger technology.

Developed in collaboration with industry experts, it not only tests the technological feasibility of the solution, but also explores the complexities of the supply chain dynamics and sets requirements for future data utilization.

In doing so, the proof of concept responds to demands from stakeholders to create “mine-to-market” visibility and accountability.

The World Economic Forum’s Mining and Metals community is a high-level group of peers dedicated to ensuring the long-term sustainability of their industry and society. Read more about their work, and how to join, via our Impact Story.

The data used in this infographic is taken from the Statista Mobility Market Outlook, which presents up-to-date market figures and forecasts on the markets for motor vehicles and mobility services worldwide.

Global average emissions of passenger cars in 2022

Pickup trucks produced the most global emissions on average. Image: Statista Mobility Market Outlook

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.