Cyprus is buying more cars in 2026 — but increasingly, they are not new ones.
During the first seven months of the year, 34,787 vehicles were registered across the island, up 11.5% from the same period in 2025. But look a little closer and the real story becomes much more interesting.
Used vehicle registrations jumped 24.1% to 21,270, while registrations of new vehicles actually fell 3.8% to 13,517.
In other words, Cyprus’ growing car market is currently being driven almost entirely by used vehicles.
Nearly 7 in 10 passenger cars registered were used
The trend becomes even clearer when we look specifically at passenger cars.
Between January and July, 26,841 passenger cars were registered in Cyprus, an increase of 11.1% year-on-year.
Only 8,614 were new.
The remaining 18,227 — or 67.9% — were used cars.
That is a fairly telling number. For every new passenger car registered in Cyprus this year, there have been more than two used ones.
And July suggests the trend isn't disappearing anytime soon. New vehicle registrations fell another 3.4% compared with July 2025, while used registrations increased by 8%.
Why are used cars winning?
The statistics don't tell us why buyers are making the switch, but the direction of the market isn't particularly surprising.
Cyprus has always had a strong import market, and buying used opens up a much wider choice of cars than relying exclusively on local new-car stock.
It can be particularly interesting at the premium end of the market.
A two- or three-year-old premium SUV, EV or performance car can often put buyers into a completely different category of vehicle for the same budget as a new mainstream model.
The important part, of course, is knowing exactly what you're buying. With imported cars, history, specification, country of origin and future resale value can matter just as much as mileage.
Hybrids now account for more than half of the market
There's another shift happening at the same time.
Hybrids accounted for 51.9% of passenger car registrations between January and July, up from 43.3% during the same period last year.
Petrol cars moved in the opposite direction, falling from 43.3% to 35.5% of registrations. Diesel slipped from 8.5% to 8%.
Interestingly, fully electric cars haven't benefited from the shift in the same way. Their share actually edged down slightly, from 4.8% to 4.6%.
So Cyprus isn't simply moving from combustion cars to EVs.
For now, it's moving very clearly towards hybrids.
What does this mean for car buyers in Cyprus?
If you're shopping for a car in Cyprus right now, the numbers tell a fairly simple story.
The used market is no longer the alternative to buying new. It is the market.
And for buyers looking at premium cars in particular, that creates an interesting opportunity. A strong supply of imported used vehicles means more choice — from nearly-new German SUVs to Japanese-market hybrids and EVs that might otherwise sit well outside the same budget.
But it also makes buying carefully more important.
The cheapest imported car isn't necessarily the best deal. A clean history, the right specification and a model that will still be desirable when you decide to sell it can easily be worth paying more for.
With almost 68% of passenger car registrations now coming from the used market, Cyprus buyers seem to have already made that calculation.
