From 350,762 registered vehicles in 2012 up to 500,633 vehicles with North Macedonia registry plates last year! In less than a decade, the number of vehicles traversing North Macedonia’s roads has increased by 150,000. What is causing a great concern is that these are mostly older vehicles which are heavy polluters.
The national data provided by the State Statistical Office (SSO) show that the fastest growth was registered in the passenger vehicles segment, and in 2020 there were 429,196 of them. The next are the cargo vehicles, which also registered a substantial growth through the years. Last year we had a total of 39,202 trucks and other cargo vehicles, and on top of that, 12,794 motorbikes.
This statistical data about the growth of the motorization rate are causing great concern when compared with the information that over 80% of the imported vehicles in this country are pre-owned. The RNM’s Customs Administration calculated that last year, 26,265 used vehicles and only 6,013 new vehicles were imported (cars, trucks, buses). These used vehicles with older engines are emitting much more carbon dioxide, which is polluting the air abundantly, which Meta.mk has already written about.
The experience from other countries shows that if the transport is left to develop without any control and bans by the authorities, the import of vehicles will grow uncontrollably and it will cause a collapse in the cities’ functioning, but also it will disrupt the environment. Having this in mind, the state and municipality authorities are the key factor that is supposed to implement the measures that are proposed by the civil society and the science institutions.
As a reminder, the transportation’s share in the total emissions of greenhouse gasses in North Macedonia is growing unstoppably together with the transportation’s share in the pollution of the air in the cities. If the share of the Energetics sector is analyzed, in 1990, the transportation had a share of 8.2% in the creation of polluting gasses measured in carbon dioxide, while in 2016, its share in percentage has increased by 28.1%. In the period between 2016 and 2020, in Macedonia, there are 40,000 more cars, motorbikes, trucks, tractors, and buses.
