Cars, Italia has the European record: 700 cars per thousand inhabitants

Italians are the most car-dependent in the whole of Europe. In fact, 70 per cent of residents own such a vehicle, in contrast to the French, German and Spanish percentages, which do not exceed 60 per cent (just like the EU average, which stands at 57.8 per cent).

This is what emerges from Istat's Data Histories in the report 'The development of transport and communications', which recalls how the car was a 'symbol of economic well-being' during the economic boom: between 1961 and 1971, registered cars rose from less than 50 to over 200 per thousand inhabitants. Then, the number of cars registered with the Pra (Pubblico Registro Automobile) rose to 500 in 1991 and, by 2024, exceeded 700.

The report puts the figures for the railway network alongside. Italia has nothing to envy from other countries: the national extension is 3.7 km per thousand square kilometres, higher than the EU average (2.1) and lower only than France (4.3) and Spain (6.3).

But the total rail transport demand is over 55 billion passenger kilometres, half that of France and Germany (107 and 109 billion passengers respectively).