According to the service, vehicle registrations in 2019 reached 46,896 against 49, 450 the previous year.

The drop is mainly due to a reduction in the sale of passenger cars, which made up 80.6% of the total.

Saloon car registrations fell by 7.1% to 37,802 in 2019, versus 40,683 in 2018, the statistical service said.

Most of the passenger cars sold last year, 66.7%, or 25,201, were second hand, down from 67.7% in 2018.

New passenger cars sales recorded a slight increase over the previous year, 33.3%, or 12,601, compared with 32.3%.

Bus registrations fell to 175 in 2019 from 211 the previous year, while the sale of vans and trucks rose by 9.7% to 5,786.

Broken down, the sale of light trucks rose 9.7% to 4,992, while heavier load carriers recorded a 9.8% rise in sales to 596.

The sale of mopeds under 50cc dropped 8.8% to 280 in 2019, while bigger motorcycles saw a 4.3% slump in sales to 2.433.

Other EU countries were the main suppliers of vehicles to Cyprus with a 57.3% share. Japan came second with 26.8%, the statistical service said.

Source: Cyprus Mail