Cars average 37 kilometres a day

In 2010 Dutch passenger cars averaged 13.3 thousand kilometres a year in the Netherlands and abroad. This is 2.1 percent less than in 2009. Diesel fuelled and heavy cars averaged most kilometres, whereas older cars are driven less.

Diesel fuelled cars average twice as many kilometres as petrol fuelled cars

Diesel fuelled cars averaged close to 24 thousand kilometres in 2010, more than twice as much as petrol fuelled cars. Compared to 2005, the mileage on diesel fuelled cars was down by 6.3 percent and on petrol fuelled cars by 4.5 percent. All in all Dutch passenger cars drove a total of 113.2 billion kilometres in 2010.

Car kilometres by type of fuel, 2010

Heavier cars make more kilometres

Cars weighing over 1 500 kg averaged 19.5 thousand kilometres in 2010. Lighter cars make proportionally fewer kilometres. Cars weighing less than 850 kg (the lightest category) averaged 8 thousand kilometres.

Car kilometres by weight class, 2010

Old cars driven less

As cars become older they are driven less. One to two year-old cars averaged 20.6 thousand kilometres in 2010 whereas cars that were over nine years old averaged over 10 thousand. The latest cars (0 years old) averaged 11.6 thousand kilometres. The distance is small because the cars were not on the road for a full year in 2010.

Car kilometres by car age, 2010

Company cars average 25 thousand kilometres

Company cars average over twice as many kilometres as privately owned cars: 24.9 versus 11.8 thousand kilometres. Most kilometres are made by diesel-fuelled company cars, namely 31.3 thousand. Private petrol-fuelled cars make the least number of kilometres (10.2 thousand). However, of the total number of kilometres made by Dutch cars, only 21 percent is made by company cars.

Michel Sijstermans and Doreen Ewalds