Türkiye’s road motor vehicles travelled a total of 382 billion 870 million kilometres in 2024, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Tuesday.

Passenger cars accounted for the largest share of total distance travelled, representing 57.0% of all vehicle-kilometres. They were followed by small trucks with 19.2%, motorcycles with 8.7%, road tractors with 5.7%, trucks with 3.8%, minibuses with 3.3%, buses with 1.9%, and special purpose vehicles with 0.5%.

Compared with the previous year, the total number of registered vehicles increased by 9.3%, while the total distance travelled grew by 10.0%, indicating that vehicle use expanded faster than vehicle ownership.

Motorcycles recorded the sharpest rise in numbers, increasing by 23.3% in 2024. Special purpose vehicles increased by 9.3%, passenger cars by 6.6%, road tractors by 6.3%, small trucks by 4.8%, minibuses by 4.0%, trucks by 3.2%, and buses by 1.3%.

In terms of kilometres travelled, motorcycles showed the strongest growth, with vehicle-kilometres rising by 59.9% compared with 2023. Passenger cars increased by 9.1%, small trucks by 5.2%, road tractors by 4.4%, special purpose vehicles by 2.7%, and minibuses by 1.8%. However, distances travelled by trucks fell by 5.1% and by buses fell by 0.6%.

Road tractors travelled the longest average annual distance per vehicle, covering 66,893 kilometres, followed by buses at 35,150 kilometres, minibuses at 24,917 kilometres, trucks at 21,887 kilometres, special purpose vehicles at 18,000 kilometres, small trucks at 15,965 kilometres, passenger cars at 13,859 kilometres, and motorcycles at 5,896 kilometres.

Analysis of passenger car travel by fuel type showed that 39.4% of total car travel was carried out by diesel-fuelled vehicles. LPG-fuelled cars accounted for 28.5%, gasoline cars 27.9%, hybrid cars 3.1%, and electric cars 1.0%.

Vehicles aged 5 to 9 years recorded the highest share of total distance travelled, accounting for 20.5% of all vehicle-kilometres, despite representing 16.8% of the vehicle fleet. This was followed by vehicles aged 10–14 years (19.2%), 2–4 years (15.6%), 0–1 years (15.0%), 15–19 years (11.9%), 25 years and older (11.7%), and 20–24 years (6.3%).

For passenger cars, the highest mileage was also recorded by those aged 5–9 years, which accounted for 22.5% of total passenger car kilometres travelled in 2024.

The figures highlight Türkiye’s growing vehicle fleet and increasing road usage across the country. (ILKHA)