The total number of registered passenger cars in Russia has decreased for the first time in 25 years. At the end of 2025, there were 52.8 million cars registered with the traffic police, which is 0.18% less than a year earlier. Thus, almost 100 thousand cars were deregistered over the year. This follows from the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with which “Kommersant” was acquainted.
According to statistics, from 2000 to 2024, the number of passenger cars in Russia increased from 20.353 million to 52.982 million. At the same time, over the first three years of the war in Ukraine, the increase amounted to 2.373 million.
The reduction in the country’s car fleet is associated with its aging and an increase in the transport tax. “Previously, a car that was essentially already scrap metal and not being driven would still remain registered for a long time. Now, as the transport tax in the regions is increasing, people are actively engaged in writing off transport,” says Mikhail Blinkin, the scientific director of the Institute of Transport Economics at the Higher School of Economics (The Moscow Times).
