That dollar amount reflects a 697.6% increase from $7.64 billion worth of electric cars imported during 2017.
Year over year, the value of globally imported electric cars grew by 76.3% compared to $34.6 billion for 2020.
Imported electric cars represent 8.5% of all global purchases for imported cars for 2021, compared to 1% five years earlier in 2017.
From a continental perspective, European countries spent the most on imported electric cars during 2021 with purchases costing $46.4 billion or over three-quarters (76.1%) of the global total. In second place were importers in North America at 12.8% while another 8.8% of electric cars imported worldwide were delivered to Asia.
Smaller percentages went to Oceania (1.7%) led by Australia and New Zealand, Latin America plus the Caribbean (0.4%), then Africa (0.1%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for electric cars is 870380. The first year that code prefix was used was 2017, so there is no data from prior periods to compare against.
Electric Cars Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2021.
- Germany: US$8.9 billion (14.6% of total imported electric cars)
- Belgium: $6.4 billion (10.5%)
- United Kingdom: $6.2 billion (10.1%)
- Norway: $5.6 billion (9.2%)
- United States: $5.4 billion (8.8%)
- France: $4.4 billion (7.2%)
- Sweden: $2.7 billion (4.4%)
- Netherlands: $2.6 billion (4.2%)
- Canada: $2.4 billion (3.9%)
- Switzerland: $1.5 billion (2.5%)
- Italy: $1.4 billion (2.2%)
- Austria: $1.3 billion (2.1%)
- Denmark: $1.23 billion (2%)
- South Korea: $1.2 billion (2%)
- Japan: $1.1 billion (1.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 85.5% of all electric cars imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for electric cars since 2020 were: United States of America (up 203.4%), Sweden (up 139.2%), Austria (up 97%) and Denmark (up 89.5%).
The Netherlands posted the most modest advance in its imports of electric cars via a 1.8% gain.
Electric Cars Imported into Germany
Germany’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$8.9 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Germany imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2021.
- United States: US$1.5 billion (up 109.4% from 2020)
- France: $1.1 billion (up 7.0%)
- Czech Republic: $953.7 million (up 73.7%)
- Slovakia: $931.1 million (up 140.5%)
- South Korea: $835.7 million (up 65.7%)
- United Kingdom: $824.9 million (up 288.9%)
- China: $767.2 million (up 466.2%)
- Belgium: $581.6 million (up 45.5%)
- Spain: $576.7 million (up 43.3%)
- Italy: $378.4 million (up 354.6%)
- Slovenia: $187.6 million (up 551.0%)
- Japan: $138.4 million (up 14.5%)
- Austria: $49.5 million (down -36.4%)
- Hungary: $37 million (up 725.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.7% of Germany’s electric cars imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of electric cars to Germany since 2020 were: Hungary (up 725.7%), Slovenia (up 551.0%), China (up 466.2%) and Italy (up 354.6%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their electric cars supplied to German importers included: Netherlands (down -82.7%), Austria (down -36.4%), France (down 7.0%) and Japan (down 14.5%).
Overall, the value of Germany’s electric cars imports rose by an average 85.2% from all supplying countries since 2020 when electric cars purchases were valued at $4.8 billion.
Electric Cars Imported into Belgium
Belgium’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$6.4 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Belgium imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2021.
- China: US$2.3 billion (up 308.6% from 2020)
- Mexico: $1.3 billion (up 10,570%)
- United States: $1.2 billion (down -51.2%)
- Germany: $538.4 million (up 66.3%)
- Spain: $326.8 million (up 520.2%)
- Japan: $274.7 million (down -0.9%)
- Netherlands: $157.1 million (up 30.3%)
- France: $103.2 million (up 83.5%)
- Italy: $91.8 million (up 109.1%)
- South Korea: $88.7 million (down -10.1%)
- Czech Republic: $49.9 million (up 4,076%)
- Austria: $26 million (up 75.8%)
- Slovakia: $23.2 million (down -15.4%)
- Slovenia: $9.7 million (up 1,322%)
- Luxembourg: $5.4 million (down -4.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.7% of Belgium’s electric cars imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of electric cars to Belgium since 2020 were: Mexico (up 10,570%), Czech Republic (up 4,076%), Slovenia (up 1,322%) and Spain (up 520.2%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their electric cars supplied to Belgian importers included: United States of America (down -51.2%), Slovakia (down -15.4%), South Korea (down -10.1%) and Luxembourg (down -4.2%).
Overall, the value of Belgium’s electric cars imports went up by an average 59.6% from all supplying countries since 2020 when electric cars purchases were valued at $4 billion.
Electric Cars Imported into the United Kingdom
Britain’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$6.2 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Great Britain imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2021.
- China: US$1.85 billion (up 6,653% from 2020)
- Germany: $1.76 billion (up 103%)
- South Korea: $965.1 million (up 95.8%)
- Belgium: $670.6 million (down -50.2%)
- Austria: $305.7 million (down -31.7%)
- France: $211.5 million (up 11.1%)
- Mexico: $165.5 million (up 59,423%)
- Spain: $96.9 million (down -48.5%)
- Poland: $96.5 million (up 689,486%)
- Japan: $48.7 million (up 62.1%)
- Italy: $7.6 million (2020 data unavailable)
- Ireland: $4.5 million (up 511%)
- Netherlands: $3.4 million (down -98.2%)
- Hong Kong: $117,000 (down -44.5%)
- Thailand: $96,000 (2020 data unavailable)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.996% of the United Kingdom’s electric cars imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of electric cars to Britain since 2020 were: Poland (up 689,486%), Mexico (up 59,423%), mainland China (up 6,653%) and Ireland (up 511%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their electric cars supplied to British importers included: Netherlands (down -98.2%), Belgium (down -50.2%), Spain (down -48.5%) and Hong Kong (down -44.5%).
Overall, the value of United Kingdom’s electric cars imports expanded by an average 60.2% from all supplying countries since 2020 when electric cars purchases were valued at $3.9 billion.
Electric Cars Imported into Norway
Norway’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$5.6 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Norway imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2021.
- Germany: US$2 billion (up 38.4% from 2020)
- China: $1.1 billion (up 303%)
- South Korea: $407.4 million (up 52%)
- Mexico: $403.9 million (up 40127.9%)
- Czech Republic: $371.1 million (up 117.2%)
- Belgium: $266.7 million (up 261.8%)
- United Kingdom: $224.9 million (down -0.3%)
- United States: $215 million (down -44.1%)
- Spain: $181.2 million (up 56.7%)
- France: $177.9 million (up 148.6%)
- Japan: $84.6 million (up 75.2%)
- Slovakia: $52 million (down -25.6%)
- Netherlands: $36.9 million (up 148.1%)
- Sweden: $34.3 million (up 0.02%)
- Italy: $19.1 million (up 291%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.4% of Norway’s electric cars imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of electric cars to Norway since 2020 were: Mexico (up 40,128%), mainland China (up 303%), Italy (up 291%) and Belgium (up 261.8%).
A trio of top suppliers experienced declines in the value of their electric cars supplied to Norwegian importers included: United States of America (down -44.1%), Slovakia (down -25.6%) and the United Kingdom (down -0.3%).
Overall, the value of Norway’s electric cars imports improved by an average 75.6% from all supplying countries since 2020 when electric cars purchases were valued at $3.2 billion.
Best-Selling Electric Car Models
Listed below are the world’s most popular plug-in electric car models based on annual sales according to hybridCARS.com, an online reviewer of cars. Shown within brackets is the automobile manufacturer for each electric car model.
- Leaf (Nissan)
- Model S (Tesla)
- Volt/Ampera (General Motors)
- Outlander PHEV (Mitsubishi)
- Prius PHV (Toyota)
- Qin (BYD)
- Zoe (Renault)
- i3 BEV and Rex (BMW)
- i-MiEV (Mitsubishi)
- Tang (BYD)
Searchable List of Electric Cars Importers
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below.
| Rank | Importer | Electric Car Imports | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $8,883,204,000 | +85.2% |
| 2. | Belgium | $6,432,502,000 | +59.6% |
| 3. | United Kingdom | $6,188,590,000 | +60.2% |
| 4. | Norway | $5,613,858,000 | +75.6% |
| 5. | United States | $5,350,199,000 | +203.4% |
| 6. | France | $4,364,159,000 | +84.7% |
| 7. | Sweden | $2,677,699,000 | +139.2% |
| 8. | Netherlands | $2,556,942,000 | +1.8% |
| 9. | Canada | $2,369,286,000 | +42.4% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $1,500,049,000 | +56.9% |
| 11. | Italy | $1,366,984,000 | +82.6% |
| 12. | Austria | $1,277,602,000 | +97% |
| 13. | Denmark | $1,229,122,000 | +89.5% |
| 14. | South Korea | $1,201,838,000 | +58.8% |
| 15. | Japan | $1,120,718,000 | +62.1% |
| 16. | Spain | $911,776,000 | +60.9% |
| 17. | China | $797,092,000 | -16.1% |
| 18. | Australia | $735,396,000 | +254.3% |
| 19. | Finland | $590,648,000 | +177.7% |
| 20. | Portugal | $492,905,000 | +85.8% |
| 21. | Israel | $471,274,000 | +744.2% |
| 22. | Poland | $411,729,000 | +94.3% |
| 23. | Taiwan | $380,001,000 | +17.8% |
| 24. | Hong Kong | $375,161,000 | +92.2% |
| 25. | New Zealand | $310,848,000 | +343.1% |
| 26. | Ireland | $288,177,000 | +90% |
| 27. | Turkey | $242,274,000 | +22% |
| 28. | Luxembourg | $202,614,000 | +80.3% |
| 29. | Ukraine | $200,926,000 | +192.1% |
| 30. | Iceland | $177,418,000 | +85% |
| 31. | United Arab Emirates | $174,769,000 | +76.6% |
| 32. | Hungary | $155,573,000 | +53.6% |
| 33. | Romania | $146,873,000 | +107.8% |
| 34. | Thailand | $133,977,000 | +436.4% |
| 35. | Slovakia | $115,257,000 | +52.4% |
| 36. | Brazil | $108,349,000 | +315% |
| 37. | Russia | $97,439,000 | +159.1% |
| 38. | Slovenia | $91,875,000 | +48% |
| 39. | Czech Republic | $90,797,000 | -30.1% |
| 40. | Mexico | $83,132,000 | 0% |
| 41. | Singapore | $79,969,000 | +378.9% |
| 42. | Greece | $73,783,000 | +165.6% |
| 43. | Lithuania | $68,382,000 | +183.2% |
| 44. | Bangladesh | $64,056,000 | +21.2% |
| 45. | Jordan | $56,463,000 | -28.8% |
| 46. | Croatia | $50,320,000 | +174.9% |
| 47. | Estonia | $45,652,000 | +157.9% |
| 48. | Pakistan | $42,770,000 | +58.6% |
| 49. | Malaysia | $42,131,000 | +1178% |
| 50. | Latvia | $41,397,000 | +123.3% |
| 51. | Macao | $39,816,000 | +44.1% |
| 52. | Costa Rica | $37,788,000 | +72.8% |
| 53. | Nepal | $35,206,000 | +306.2% |
| 54. | Colombia | $29,217,000 | +47.7% |
| 55. | Indonesia | $28,183,000 | +327.9% |
| 56. | Bulgaria | $22,276,000 | +121.5% |
| 57. | Uruguay | $22,106,000 | +546.9% |
| 58. | Dominican Republic | $20,531,000 | +140.3% |
| 59. | Uzbekistan | $16,890,000 | +463.8% |
| 60. | Chile | $16,037,000 | +238% |
| 61. | India | $15,072,000 | +557.9% |
| 62. | Malta | $14,951,000 | +62.1% |
| 63. | South Africa | $13,662,000 | +266.2% |
| 64. | Lebanon | $11,716,000 | +429.4% |
| 65. | Kazakhstan | $9,849,000 | +60.6% |
| 66. | Qatar | $9,436,000 | +403.5% |
| 67. | Mauritius | $7,948,000 | +83% |
| 68. | Kuwait | $7,025,000 | +488.9% |
| 69. | Belarus | $6,580,000 | +106% |
| 70. | Cyprus | $6,013,000 | +174.2% |
| 71. | Faroe Islands | $5,977,000 | +120.6% |
| 72. | Cayman Islands | $5,498,000 | +159% |
| 73. | Morocco | $5,211,000 | -21.2% |
| 74. | Panama | $5,130,000 | +125.8% |
| 75. | Armenia | $4,940,000 | +60.7% |
| 76. | Andorra | $4,834,000 | +70.9% |
| 77. | Bermuda | $4,477,000 | +167.9% |
| 78. | Moldova | $4,332,000 | +101.6% |
| 79. | Vietnam | $4,252,000 | +534.6% |
| 80. | Barbados | $4,142,000 | +71.9% |
| 81. | French Polynesia | $4,041,000 | +154.8% |
| 82. | Kyrgyzstan | $3,575,000 | +2268% |
| 83. | Azerbaijan | $3,463,000 | -58.4% |
| 84. | Albania | $3,401,000 | +46.3% |
| 85. | Jamaica | $3,391,000 | +1570% |
| 86. | North Macedonia | $3,073,000 | +1202% |
| 87. | Philippines | $3,052,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Ecuador | $3,011,000 | -11.8% |
| 89. | Angola | $2,753,000 | -66.7% |
| 90. | Bahamas | $2,661,000 | +951.8% |
| 91. | Gibraltar | $2,631,000 | -34.7% |
| 92. | Cuba | $2,619,000 | +78.5% |
| 93. | Serbia | $2,302,000 | +170.8% |
| 94. | Cambodia | $2,282,000 | +600% |
| 95. | Ethiopia | $2,272,000 | +252.8% |
| 96. | Laos | $2,147,000 | +197% |
| 97. | Brunei Darussalam | $2,021,000 | +1195.5% |
| 98. | Guatemala | $1,947,000 | +244.6% |
| 99. | Peru | $1,801,000 | +107.2% |
| 100. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,734,000 | +197.4% |
Focusing on the top 100 importers of electric cars, the fastest growing markets from 2020 to 2021 are Kyrgyzstan (up 2,268%), Jamaica (up 1,570%), North Macedonia (up 1,202%), Brunei Darussalam (up 1,196%), Malaysia (up 1,178%), Bahamas (up 951.8%), and Israel (up 744.2%).
Note that an entry of 0% in the above table’s right-most column means that 2020 data was unavailable.
See also Electric Cars Exports by Country, Cars Exports by Country, Cars Imports by Country and US Exported & Imported Cars by State
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on August 30, 2022
hybridCARS, Global 10 Best-Selling Plug-In Cars Are Accelerating Forward. Accessed on August 30, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 30, 2022
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on August 30, 2022
Wikipedia, List of electric cars currently available. Accessed on August 30, 2022
