Electric vehicle sales have been growing exponentially due to falling costs, improving technology and government support. Globally, 22% of passenger vehicles sold in 2024 were electric. That’s 8 times higher than it was just five years earlier.But which countries are leading the pack? In terms of total passenger EV sales, China is the clear leader, with 11.3 million in 2024. It’s followed by the United States (1.5 million), Germany (570,000), the U.K. (550,000) and France (450,000).However, the picture changes when you look at EV sales as a share of all car sales. This gives a better idea of which countries are succeeding at electrifying their auto markets the fastest.According to the International Energy Agency, the top six countries with the highest share of EV sales are Norway (electric vehicles made up 92% of passenger vehicle sales in 2024), Sweden (58%), Denmark (56%), Finland (50%), and the Netherlands and China (tied at 48%). Notably, this makes China a leader in both total volume and share of EV sales. Meanwhile, the United States ranks much lower, with EVs at just 10% of passenger car sales. People enter a BYD store in Shanghai, China. The Chinese brand is one of the biggest electric vehicle producers in the world. Photo by Robert Way/iStock.  Some developing countries with low levels of car ownership are not covered by the IEA data but have reportedly seen impressive EV uptake in the last few years. A big reason for this is the availability of affordable EVs imported from China. For example, countries like Ethiopia, Nepal and Sri Lanka went from essentially no EV imports five years ago to the majority of their imports being EVs in 2024.By one estimate, EVs will need to reach 75% to 95% of passenger vehicle sales by 2030 to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) and prevent many harmful impacts from climate change. This is an ambitious target, and the world is currently off track to reach it. But as the countries here have shown, rapid uptake is possible. With the right policy support, the world can still feasibly get on track.National EV Sales Follow a Pattern of Exponential GrowthWhile EV sales have started accelerating in different years for different countries, they are all following a similar \“S-curve\” pattern of growth. This is a typical trajectory for the adoption of innovative technologies. Once a technology reaches a tipping point — for example, when EVs become cheaper than traditional gas- or diesel-powered vehicles — the trajectory curves upward. Eventually, growth diminishes as the technology approaches 100% saturation. Norway, for example, has already reached this slowing-down phase as EVs have exceeded 90% of its passenger vehicle sales. The initial acceleration and eventual slowdown create an S-curve. Norway is the world leader on EV adoption rates, growing sales from less than 1% to more than 90% in 14 years. To meet 2030 climate targets, the world needs to scale up EVs sales roughly as fast as Norway.Other countries have also begun rapid growth in recent years: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and China are other leading EV adopters after Norway.In every country, once EV sales reached 1%, they accelerated. This acceleration happened faster in some places than others, but has typically followed an S-curve pattern. The Largest Car Markets Must Drive Industry ChangeThe world’s transition to electric vehicles largely relies on the performance of the three biggest car markets — China, the European Union and the United States — which are collectively responsible for 60% of global car sales.Incredibly, one out of two passenger cars sold in China in 2024 was electric. (More on this below.)The share of EV sales in the EU, at 21%, is about the same as the global average. However, its trajectory has stagnated in the past few years as countries like Germany and France removed supportive EV policies. Growth should resume in the coming years because new EU-wide CO2 targets will come into effect from 2025 to 2027.In the United States, 1 in 10 cars sold in 2024 were EVs, about half of the global average. Sales grew in 2024, but not as fast as in previous years. Part of the reason for this is that there’s a lack of affordable electric sports utility vehicles (SUVs) on the market, and SUVs make up three-quarters of U.S. passenger vehicles sales. The retirement of federal EV tax credits under recent legislation may also hamper EV growth in the coming years. 2 Countries Achieving Electric Vehicle SuccessLet’s dive deeper into Norway and China, two of the countries that have been most successful in scaling up EVs over the longest periods of time, to learn from their experiences.1) In Norway, 9 out of 10 new cars are electricNorway is one of the coldest regions in the world and is crisscrossed by fjords that make some areas difficult to access. Given concerns that EV batteries don’t run as effectively in low temperatures and don’t have as long a range as gasoline vehicles, one would expect that Norway would be one of the last countries to adopt EVs. To the contrary, Norway and its Scandinavian neighbors, such as Sweden and Denmark, are by far and away the leaders in EV adoption. Nine out of 10 passenger cars sold in Norway were all-electric vehicles in 2024, with 110,000 sold in total.Norway is so far ahead of the pack because its government has deliberately and consistently promoted EVs, starting those efforts in 1990, long before the rest of the world. In 2017 it set a target to phase out internal combustion engine vehicle sales by 2025, the earliest of any country, and has nearly met that goal. There are three reasons why Norway’s efforts to make EVs the default option for new car buyers have been successful.First, government incentives have made EVs the best financial choice for consumers. Norwegians who buy all-electric vehicles do not have to pay high value-added taxes or registration taxes, and they receive other financial benefits as well. This eliminates a substantial portion of the cost of buying and owning an EV. These incentives were gradually rolled out in the 1990s and early 2000s, with support from multiple governments and all political parties. The government was originally trying to support a Norwegian EV brand called TH!NK. The company wasn’t successful, and most Norwegian cars are still imported from abroad, but the government continued to promote EVs due to their environmental benefits.Even with generous incentives, EVs didn’t take off until the technology had advanced. The real turning point was around 2012, when the total cost of owning an EV over its lifetime (including purchase, maintenance and charging) became cheaper than the total cost of owning a traditional gas- or diesel-powered vehicle, when including all tax breaks. By 2021, the upfront costs of purchasing an EV were also cheaper.Second, the government has invested heavily in EV chargers. As a result, Norway has the most public fast chargers per capita of any country in the world. These can get an EV battery from zero to 80% in as little as 20 minutes. In addition, Norway has established a right to charge for people living in apartment buildings and provides grants for housing associations to install their own chargers.Third, Norway has provided EV owners with attractive perks, such as free parking in cities, exemptions or reductions in road tolls, access to priority bus lanes, and reduced rates for EVs to be transported by ferry. (Ferries are frequently used given Norway’s fjord-covered landscape.)Given the success of its EV policies, Norway’s government has gradually rolled back incentives for luxury EVs and some of the other perks for electric vehicle owners. Now that nearly everyone in Norway is buying them, it no longer makes sense to allow all EVs to have bus lane access and free parking. Plus, some of these policies may encourage people to choose car travel over public transit, which would increase emissions. Norway is now more consciously considering how to promote other transport options besides private cars.In This Series Energy These 10 Countries Are Phasing Out Coal the Fastest Insights November 30, 2023 Climate These Countries Are Electrifying Their Bus Fleets the Fastest Insights June 25, 2025 2) China sells more EVs than the rest of the world combinedChina is by far the biggest player when it comes to EVs. In 2024, 48% of passenger vehicles sold in China were all-electric, totaling 11 million sales. That’s higher than the 6 million EVs sold in the rest of the world combined. Moreover, China’s support for EVs has helped drive down battery costs and make EV adoption easier all over the world.China was far behind other countries in the production of internal combustion engine vehicles. It saw EVs as a strategic investment in a new area of automobile manufacturing where it could develop an edge if it started early enough. It was also interested in the role EVs could play in reducing air pollution and dependence on imported oil. China first rolled out financial subsidies and tax breaks for both EV producers and consumers in 2009 and 2010, starting with pilot cities around the country. Cities could customize the amount and type of EV subsidies to fit their needs and worked with local EV companies to help them grow. For example, Chinese EV company BYD started out with close ties to the city of Shenzhen and has since grown to be the biggest EV producer in the world.Following these pilot programs, China continued to provide national and local subsidies and tax breaks. In 2018, China began a transition to a market-based zero-emissions vehicle credit system, adapted from California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate, to replace direct subsidies. From 2009 to 2023, the Chinese government provided approximately $230 billion in financial support for EV purchase rebates, tax exemptions, charging infrastructure, R&D programs for EV makers, and government procurement of EVs. The purchase rebates were phased out gradually and ended after 2022.Overall, the industrial promotion policies have been effective. Today, eight out of the top 10 EV models sold in China are made by Chinese companies. Domestic consumers can choose from over 500 EV models, more than in any other country. China has also become a leader in global vehicle exports. In 2020, it was tied for the fifth most cars exported of any country; by 2023 it had leapt to first. And Chinese companies have become among the most innovative in the world: In 2025, BYD and CATL both unveiled major breakthroughs that would allow EVs to be charged in only 5 minutes.Chinese companies have also done the most to develop affordable EV models. In many other countries, the focus has been on larger vehicles which require more expensive batteries. But in China, smaller vehicles are more common. The two best-selling EV models, the Geely Geome Xinguyan and BYD Seagull, both cost under $10,000. On average across all car models, EV options in China are cheaper than comparable gas or diesel-powered vehicles.Another major factor that has encouraged uptake is that China has installed 1.6 million public fast charging points and 1.9 million public slow charging points, which is more than the rest of the world combined. Like Norway, China has also extended non-monetary benefits to EV drivers, mostly at the city level. For example, in Beijing and other major cities, car license plates are rationed, meaning they’re expensive and have a long wait time. However, the process is waived for EV buyers.  A large Tesla sign hangs above a showroom in Hong Kong. Tesla’s entrance into China’s electric car market has spurred a price war helping to drive down the costs of EVs. Photo by robertcicchetti/iStock. Lower-Income Countries Are Joining the EV RaceThe earliest EV leaders were high-income countries, like in Scandinavia, or countries with a lot of market power, like China. Strong government policy and financial incentives from these countries paved the way for a dynamic EV industry to rise and helped costs to fall.Now, as the economics of EVs become more favorable, other countries at lower income levels or in different national situations are taking up EVs. In many cases, adoption rates are accelerating even faster than they did for early movers thanks to affordable and high-quality EV imports from China.For example, in 2024, more than 80% of car imports to Nepal and Sri Lanka were EVs. EVs also were estimated to make up more than 60% of all new passenger car registrations in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa (which is home to nearly all cars in the country).These countries have put ambitious policies in place to promote EV adoption. Ethiopia effectively banned internal combustion engine vehicle imports at the end of 2023. Nepal added high taxes on internal combustion engine vehicles and offered generous financing for EVs. In both cases, the goal was to reduce dependence on costly and unpredictable oil imports. Sri Lanka doesn’t have any particular policy incentives for EVs, but is still seeing strong EV imports from China thanks to their inherent cost competitiveness. These are all countries with low levels of private car ownership, so their total number of EVs being purchased is still quite low.EV owners in developing countries often face electricity outages or a lack of adequate charging infrastructure. While governments are making plans for the electric grid to meet demand, much more will be needed in order to reach rural areas. However, the benefits can outweigh the risks, according to early adopters. For example, in Ethiopia, electricity is multiple times cheaper than gasoline. And even though EV owners must contend with power outages, they still can save time by not having to wait in line for hours at gas stations with limited supply.For developing countries, EVs should be just one part of a broader effort to increase access to sustainable urban mobility. Yet this provides encouraging evidence that it is possible for developing economies to leapfrog over gas vehicles and go straight to EVs.Government Leadership and Affordability Are Key to Faster EV UptakeExperiences from Norway, China and other EV leaders can provide lessons for other countries. EV uptake is fastest when governments make a deliberate choice to promote EVs, invest in public chargers and implement policies to make EVs cost competitive. EV adoption grows rapidly once EVs are a better financial decision for prospective car buyers than traditional gas- or diesel-powered vehicles — especially when buyers are confident in the range of the vehicles and their ability to easily access public chargers.Innovations and policy pushes in places like Norway and China are helping to bring prices down globally and make EVs more cost competitive in other countries. But those governments should not sit back and wait for this to happen given the urgency of the climate crisis. Not every country is as wealthy as Norway or has the market power and government structure of China, but electric vehicles can be an economic and environmental win for a wide variety of developing countries.Policies mandating 100% EV sales are the most effective tool to drive the transition. As of 2023, 16 countries, including Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, had some form of policy mandating 100% EV sales by 2035 or earlier. More countries should create and enforce such policies. If the EU, U.S. and China all aligned their national regulations to aim for 100% EV sales by 2035, the scaling up of production would lower costs worldwide. This could bring forward cost parity in other countries, such as India, by as much as three years. In addition, countries should increase the number of public chargers, and particularly the number of fast public chargers, in order to make EV ownership an easy choice. Parking spots reserved for EVs. Perks and subsidies for EV owners can help spur adoption. Photo by Vered Barequet/iStock The shift to EVs must be done equitably. Governments should incentivize carmakers to produce more affordable EV models in markets where EVs still have a price premium. When subsidies are used, they should be primarily targeted at low-income households. In addition to being equitable, this is also more effective at increasing EV adoption, given that low-income households are more sensitive to price changes.Rapidly increasing EV adoption to reach 75% to 95% of global passenger vehicle sales by 2030 will be challenging. But it is achievable if the world heeds these lessons and accelerates the pace of change.Finally, it’s important to note that increasing EV sales is only part of the story. To decarbonize road transportation, old gas- and diesel-powered vehicles will need to be retired rather than be sold to other drivers or to developing countries. In addition, the increasing popularity of large vehicles like SUVs will have to be reversed. What’s more, the goal shouldn’t be for everyone to own a car. Transforming the transport system to increase access to other forms of mobility can lower emissions, reduce automobile-related deaths, save time lost in traffic and limit ecosystem damages.Data for electric vehicle sales in this article is from the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Data Explorer, as of December 2025. Data includes both all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.This article is part of a series of deep-dive analyses from Systems Change Lab examining countries that are leadrs in transformational change. Systems Change Lab is a collaborative initiative — which includes an open-sourced data platform — designed to spur action at the pace and scale needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, halt biodiversity loss and build a just and equitable economy.Editor’s note: This article was originally published in September 2023. It was updated in December 2025 to reflect the latest EV data and trends.

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