That dollar amount reflects a 350.3% increase since 2017 and a 47.8% year-over-year gain from 2019 to 2020.
Imported electric cars represent 5.3% of all globally imported cars for 2020–compared to 4.4% one year earlier.
From a continental perspective, European countries spent the most on imported electric cars during 2020 with purchases costing $27.1 billion or well over three-quarters (78.7%) of the global total. In second place were importers in Asia at 10.1% while 10% of electric cars imported worldwide were delivered in North America.
Smaller percentages went to Oceania (0.8%) led by Australia and New Zealand, Latin America plus the Caribbean (0.3%) 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
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2020.
- Germany: US$4.8 billion (13.9% of globally imported electric cars)
- Belgium: $4 billion (11.7%)
- United Kingdom: $3.9 billion (11.2%)
- Norway: $3.2 billion (9.3%)
- Netherlands: $2.45 billion (7.1%)
- France: $2.36 billion (6.9%)
- United States: $1.76 billion (5.1%)
- Canada: $1.66 billion (4.8%)
- Sweden: $1.1 billion (3.3%)
- Switzerland: $955.8 million (2.8%)
- China: $949.6 million (2.8%)
- South Korea: $757 million (2.2%)
- Italy: $743.9 million (2.2%)
- Japan: $691.3 million (2%)
- Denmark: $651.2 million (1.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 88.4% of all electric cars imported in 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage of overall electric cars shipments for each importer nation.
The fastest-growing buyers of imported electric cars since 2017 are Japan (up 418.1%), United Kingdom (up 209.9%), Germany (up 194.4%), Denmark (up 193.5%), Italy (up 125.4%), France (up 116.3%) and South Korea (up 104.3%).
Germany
Electric Cars Imported into Germany
Germany’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$4.8 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Germany imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2020.
- France: US$1 billion (up 725.7% from 2017)
- United States: $705.7 million (up 15,544%)
- Czech Republic: $548.3 million (up 3,225,324%)
- South Korea: $504.3 million (up 455.7%)
- Spain: $402.4 million (up 3,935%)
- Belgium: $399.4 million (up 7,854%)
- United States: $387 million (up 1,092%)
- United Kingdom: $205.1 million (up 1,050%)
- China: $135.5 million (up 3,040%)
- Netherlands: $132.3 million (down -51.6%)
- Japan: $120.7 million (up 1,464%)
- South Korea: $81.6 million (up 15,565%)
- Austria: $76.5 million (up 2,790%)
- Slovenia: $28.3 million (down -26%)
By value, the listed countries shipped 99.5% of Germany’s imported electric cars in 2020.
Overall, the value of China’s electric cars imports increased by an average 672.5% from all supplying countries since 2017 when electric cars purchased were valued at $619.2 million.
Belgium
Electric Cars Imported into Belgium
Belgium’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$4 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Belgium imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2020.
- United States: US$2.4 billion (up 8,004% from 2017)
- China: $556.6 million (up 772,978%)
- Germany: $323.9 million (up 1,206%)
- Japan: $277.1 million (up 597.2%)
- Netherlands: $120.6 million (up 17.8%)
- South Korea: $98.7 million (up 6,232%)
- United Kingdom: $69.8 million (down -7.2%)
- France: $56.2 million (up 305.5%)
- Spain: $52.7 million (up 1,294%)
- Italy: $43.9 million (up 2,824%)
- Slovakia: $27.39 million (no 2017 data)
- Austria: $14.79 million (up 2335.9%)
- Mexico: $12.10 million (up 71,082%)
- Luxembourg: $5.67 million (up 418.9%)
- Poland: $3.1 million (up 25,683%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.9% of Belgium’s imported electric cars in 2020.
Overall, the value of Belgium’s electric cars imports expanded by an average 1,266% from all supplying countries since 2017 when electric cars purchased were valued at $295 million.
UK
Electric Cars Imported into the United Kingdom
The UK’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$3.9 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Great Britain imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2020.
- Belgium: US$1.3 billion (up 16,873% from 2017)
- Germany: $869 million (up 954,818%)
- South Korea: $492.9 million (up 4,177%)
- Austria: $447.5 million (up 120,195%)
- Netherlands: $191.4 million (down -48.7%)
- France: $190.3 million (up 746.1%)
- Spain: $188.4 million (up 852.6%)
- Slovakia: $71.9 million (no 2017 data)
- Japan: $30.1 million (up 1,299%)
- China: $27.4 million (up 1,213%)
- Czech Republic: $7.2 million (no 2017 data)
- Ireland: $736,000 (no 2017 data)
- United States: $548,000 (up 84.5%)
- Mexico: $278,000 (no 2017 data)
- Hong Kong: $211,000 (no 2017 data)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.9% of electric cars imported into the United Kingdom during 2020.
Overall, the value of the UK’s imported electric cars increased by an average 771.2% from all supplying countries since 2017 when electric cars purchases were valued at $443.6 million.
Norway
Electric Cars Imported into Norway
Norway’s global purchases of imported electric cars totaled US$3.2 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Norway imported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2020.
- Germany: US$1.4 billion (up 239.6% from 2017)
- United States: $384.5 million (down -46.2%)
- China: $280.3 million (up 207,562%)
- South Korea: $268 million (up 81.6%)
- United Kingdom: $225.7 million (up 77.8%)
- Czech Republic: $170.9 million (no 2017 data)
- Spain: $115.6 million (up 1,061%)
- Belgium: $73.7 million (up 32,237%)
- France: $71.6 million (down -9.7%)
- Slovakia: $69.8 million (up 367.3%)
- Japan: $48.3 million (up 407.9%)
- Sweden: $34.3 million (up 7,830%)
- Netherlands: $14.9 million (up 4,194%)
- Italy: $4.9 million (up 1,594%)
- Denmark: $2.5 million (up 1,693%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.9% of all Norway’s imported electric cars in 2020.
Overall, the value of Norway’s electric cars imports expanded by an average 109.4% from all supplying countries since 2017 when electric cars purchased were valued at $1.5 billion.
Best
Best-Selling Electric Car Models
Listed below are the world’s most popular plug-in electric car models based on annual sales according to hybridCARS.com, an online reviewer of cars. Shown within brackets is the automobile manufacturer for each electric car model.
- Leaf (Nissan)
- Model S (Tesla)
- Volt/Ampera (General Motors)
- Outlander PHEV (Mitsubishi)
- Prius PHV (Toyota)
- Qin (BYD)
- Zoe (Renault)
- i3 BEV and Rex (BMW)
- i-MiEV (Mitsubishi)
- Tang (BYD)
Searchable List of Electric Cars Importers in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below.
| Rank | Importer | Electric Car Imports (US$) | %Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $4,783,193,000 | +194.4% |
| 2. | Belgium | $4,029,675,000 | +27.5% |
| 3. | United Kingdom | $3,864,148,000 | +209.9% |
| 4. | Norway | $3,197,437,000 | +14.3% |
| 5. | Netherlands | $2,445,528,000 | +8.1% |
| 6. | France | $2,363,400,000 | +116.3% |
| 7. | United States | $1,763,637,000 | +11.8% |
| 8. | Canada | $1,663,703,000 | +33.9% |
| 9. | Sweden | $1,122,909,000 | +67.1% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $955,764,000 | +50.7% |
| 11. | China | $949,605,000 | -61.5% |
| 12. | South Korea | $757,029,000 | +104.3% |
| 13. | Italy | $743,920,000 | +125.4% |
| 14. | Japan | $691,291,000 | +418.1% |
| 15. | Denmark | $651,224,000 | +193.5% |
| 16. | Austria | $648,605,000 | +29% |
| 17. | Spain | $566,795,000 | +26.3% |
| 18. | Taiwan | $322,686,000 | +79.6% |
| 19. | Portugal | $265,308,000 | -51.6% |
| 20. | Finland | $212,183,000 | +74.5% |
| 21. | Poland | $211,940,000 | #DIV/0! |
| 22. | Australia | $207,546,000 | -6.3% |
| 23. | Turkey | $198,578,000 | +1173.9% |
| 24. | Hong Kong | $195,173,000 | +61.7% |
| 25. | Ireland | $151,284,000 | +32.5% |
| 26. | Czech Republic | $130,002,000 | +294.7% |
| 27. | Luxembourg | $111,636,000 | +170.7% |
| 28. | Hungary | $101,304,000 | +67.7% |
| 29. | Iceland | $95,926,000 | +118% |
| 30. | Jordan | $79,337,000 | -35.8% |
| 31. | Slovakia | $76,398,000 | +68.8% |
| 32. | Romania | $70,671,000 | +90.5% |
| 33. | New Zealand | $70,154,000 | -45.6% |
| 34. | Ukraine | $68,789,000 | #DIV/0! |
| 35. | Slovenia | $62,066,000 | +114.8% |
| 36. | Israel | $55,826,000 | -11.2% |
| 37. | Bangladesh | $52,846,000 | -42.6% |
| 38. | United Arab Emirates | $40,636,000 | -60.5% |
| 39. | Russia | $37,601,000 | +314.8% |
| 40. | Greece | $27,781,000 | +233.7% |
| 41. | Macao | $27,629,000 | +229.6% |
| 42. | Pakistan | $26,921,000 | +59724.4% |
| 43. | Brazil | $26,106,000 | +26.4% |
| 44. | Thailand | $24,979,000 | -58.6% |
| 45. | Lithuania | $24,145,000 | +82.2% |
| 46. | Costa Rica | $21,865,000 | +72% |
| 47. | Colombia | $19,778,000 | -6.1% |
| 48. | Latvia | $18,541,000 | +178.4% |
| 49. | Croatia | $18,303,000 | +116.9% |
| 50. | Estonia | $17,494,000 | +207.7% |
| 51. | Singapore | $16,698,000 | -77.7% |
| 52. | Bulgaria | $10,060,000 | +18.8% |
| 53. | Malta | $9,226,000 | -2.2% |
| 54. | Nepal | $8,885,000 | -58.6% |
| 55. | Dominican Republic | $8,543,000 | +65.8% |
| 56. | Azerbaijan | $8,331,000 | +838.2% |
| 57. | Morocco | $6,616,000 | +627.8% |
| 58. | Indonesia | $6,587,000 | +125.7% |
| 59. | Kazakhstan | $6,134,000 | +104.7% |
| 60. | Mauritius | $4,343,000 | -19.2% |
| 61. | Gibraltar | $4,028,000 | -60.7% |
| 62. | South Africa | $3,731,000 | -43.6% |
| 63. | Chile | $3,504,000 | -61.2% |
| 64. | Uruguay | $3,417,000 | +50.9% |
| 65. | Ecuador | $3,414,000 | +42.1% |
| 66. | Malaysia | $3,297,000 | -18.5% |
| 67. | Belarus | $3,194,000 | -49.8% |
| 68. | Armenia | $3,094,000 | +158.9% |
| 69. | Uzbekistan | $2,996,000 | +668.2% |
| 70. | Andorra | $2,828,000 | +49.6% |
| 71. | Faroe Islands | $2,712,000 | +106.4% |
| 72. | Albania | $2,544,000 | 0% |
| 73. | Barbados | $2,409,000 | +332.5% |
| 74. | India | $2,291,000 | -55.4% |
| 75. | Panama | $2,272,000 | +374.3% |
| 76. | Lebanon | $2,213,000 | +22.5% |
| 77. | Moldova | $2,149,000 | 0% |
| 78. | Cyprus | $1,920,000 | +13.9% |
| 79. | Qatar | $1,874,000 | 0% |
| 80. | New Caledonia | $1,728,000 | +119% |
| 81. | Angola | $1,697,000 | -48.7% |
| 82. | Bermuda | $1,671,000 | -50.5% |
| 83. | French Polynesia | $1,570,000 | +17.1% |
| 84. | Paraguay | $1,508,000 | +17.7% |
| 85. | Cuba | $1,467,000 | +153.8% |
| 86. | Sri Lanka | $1,360,000 | -43.3% |
| 87. | Trinidad/Tobago | $1,253,000 | +34.9% |
| 88. | Kuwait | $1,193,000 | -46.5% |
| 89. | Mongolia | $1,094,000 | +136.3% |
| 90. | Seychelles | $1,067,000 | -18.7% |
| 91. | Greenland | $974,000 | +673% |
| 92. | Peru | $869,000 | +41.3% |
| 93. | Serbia | $850,000 | +64.7% |
| 94. | Montenegro | $746,000 | +7.3% |
| 95. | Jamaica | $732,000 | +515.1% |
| 96. | Argentina | $697,000 | +4.2% |
| 97. | Bolivia | $695,000 | +284% |
| 98. | Vietnam | $670,000 | +55.8% |
| 99. | Ethiopia | $644,000 | 0% |
| 100. | Oman | $603,000 | -35.7% |
Note that an entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2017 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 January 15, 2022
hybridCARS, Global 10 Best-Selling Plug-In Cars Are Accelerating Forward. Accessed on January 15, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on January 15, 2022
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on January 15, 2022
Wikipedia, List of electric cars currently available. Accessed on January 15, 2022
