Electric vehicle (EV) sales globally reached 20.7 million last year, up 20%, hitting record high, London based research firm Benchmark announced on Wednesday.
EV sales totaled 12.9 million units in China, up 17%, 4.3 million in Europe, up 33%, 1.8 million in North America, down 4%, and 1.7 million in the rest of the world, up 48%.
20.7 million units, globally, were sold in the passenger car and light-duty vehicle segment, Benchmark's press release read.
In Europe, the EV market grew by 33%, with 31% growth coming from Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and 38% from Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) over the same period.
The press release recalled that the European electric vehicle market was marked by a year of legislative change, as EU tailpipe emissions targets were softened throughout the year.
Over 2025, EV sales accelerated in several major markets; large-volume countries such as Germany and the UK grew by 48% and 27%, respectively.
It said: "2025 was a turbulent year for the North American EV market. In the US, the elimination of federal tax credits on 30 September 2025, alongside the reduction of
CAFE standards fines to zero and the introduction of protectionist policies aimed at onshoring vehicle production and supply chains, significantly weakened market
momentum.
"As a result, US EV sales grew by just 1% in 2025. Amid these changes, the Canadian market performed poorly following the removal of subsidies early in 2025, causing EV sales to fall by 41% over the year."
In contrast, EV sales in Mexico grew by 29%, with the majority of this growth driven by imports of Chinese EVs.
In China, the EV market grew by 17% in 2025 compared with 2024, with BEVs increasing by 26% and PHEVs by 6% over the same period.
Year‑on‑year growth slowed markedly in the final quarter of 2025, reaching just 4% compared with the last quarter of 2024.
In contrast, EV sales in the first half of 2025 grew by 33% year on year.
In the rest of the world, a significant number of regions had a strong presence of Chinese EV imports, including Southeast Asia that almost doubled year-on-year and in the final three months of the 2025 average over 55,000 EVs sold per month compared with an average of 32,000 per month in the final three months of 2024.
