Relevance

Motor Vehicles statistics cover the following areas:

• ​stock of licensed vehicles as at end of the reporting quarter;
• newly-licensed vehicles (new and used) during the reporting quarter; and
• out-of-action vehicles during the reporting quarter.

Data related to motor vehicle is requested in the ‘Common Questionnaire on Inland Transport Statistics’ developed in cooperation between the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the International Transport Forum (ITF), and Eurostat.  The Common Questionnaire is not supported by a legal act, it is a voluntary data collection based on a gentlemen’s agreement with the participating countries.

Methodological description

Data regarding motor vehicles is based on administrative data from Transport Malta.   Data is reported to Eurostat in aggregate form.

Accuracy and reliability of data

Motor vehicle data is checked for consistency and whenever anomalies emerge, queries are sent directly to Transport Malta for clarification.

Timeliness and punctuality of data

The ‘Motor Vehicles’ news release is released quarterly on the NSO’s website as scheduled in the Advance News Release Calendar.  Data for a particular reference quarter is published in the following quarter.

Data is also forwarded to Eurostat by filling in the necessary details in the  ‘Common Questionnaire for Inland Transport Statistics’.  Data is submitted within 9 to 12 months after reference calendar year.

Accessibility and clarity of data

Tables on motor vehicles are also included in an annual publication ‘Transport Statistics’ which is available on the NSO’s website. 

Coherence and comparability / consistency of data

Motor vehicles data is the only source of inland transport statistics.  To this end, coherence tests with other domains are not applicable.  The Common Questionnaire is a voluntary data collection based on a gentleman’s agreement; data collection and compilation methodology is determined by the competent national authorities and varies from country to country. ​