Total no. of registered vehicles has now crossed 1.82cr with 425 vehicles per 1,000 people

After a marginal decline in the previous year, Kerala posted an increase in vehicle registrations in 2024-25, with 7.83 lakh new vehicles added across the state. This, however, remained below 2022-23 numbers, when a post-Covid surge saw 7.91 lakh new registrations. The pent-up demand cooled off in 2023-24, when it came in at 7.44 lakh.

The total number of registered vehicles in Kerala has now crossed 1.82 crore, reaffirming its reputation as one of the most vehicle-dense states in the country, with 425 vehicles per 1,000 people. Only Chandigarh (702 vehicles per 1,000 people), Puducherry (521), and Goa (476) exceed Kerala’s per capita vehicle density, according to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Among districts, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode accounted for the highest number of new registrations in the last financial year.

D Dhanuraj, Chairman of Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), spoke to Manisha V C S of The New Indian Express (TNIE) on the subject, pointing to possible localised factors influencing vehicle purchases. He noted that in Thiruvananthapuram, land acquisition for major development projects resulted in lump-sum compensation, a portion of which could have been used to buy vehicles.

Dhanuraj also surmised that the increase in vehicle purchases could be a reflection of the deteriorating public transport architecture in the city and suburbs, and that these factors need to be studied further to come to conclusions.

“One concern behind the rising vehicle numbers, especially in Thiruvananthapuram, is the inefficiency of the public transport system. With many people finding it unreliable or insufficient, they are turning to private options,”

Dhanuraj is quoted as saying.

Read the TNIE article here.

Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.