The combined share of electric and hybrid vehicles in Belgium now outnumbers diesel cars for the first time, according to figures released today by Belgium's statistics agency Statbel.
Financial incentives, for both company cars and individuals, explain the increase seen over the last few years, according to Stef Willems of the road safety institute Vias.
"If there were not those kinds of financial incentives, the number of sold electric vehicles compared to other cars would not be as high," he told The Brussels Times.
In total, Belgium now has 1,512,874 hybrid or electric cars, against a diesel total of 1,493,622. Statbel calls this crossover point a "significant milestone."
The number of electric cars registered in Belgium grew by almost 40% between August 2025 and 2026, while diesel (-12.13%) and petrol (-0.01%) vehicles declined over the same period.
However, in terms of the stock of vehicles, petrol cars remain dominant – even if registrations are in decline.
Previous reports show that incentives such as the Flemish EV premium, which returned €5,000 to anyone buying an electric vehicle costing less than €40,000, helped drive electric vehicle sales.
While that premium has now been discontinued, the policy measure helped to boost electric vehicle purchases by individuals, according to Willems.
"You never know what's going to happen," he siad about the future path for electric vehicle registrations, "but we think that the evolution towards more electric cars will not slow down."
However, he acknowledged that it is hard to predict which way the incentives will go. "It's also a question of how the market will evolve in the next couple of years, if there will be the availability of smaller electric cars, which are cheaper. So they are all elements that play a role."
Ongoing financial incentives for companies have continued to play a strong role; Stabel noted that in the last year, "the majority of electric vehicles are still registered in the name of a company" – nearly four in five.
The financial incentives for electric car purchases come alongside the growing availability of electric vehicle charging facilities. In the first half of this year, Belgium installed nearly 20,000 new public charging points for electric vehicles. This increased the national total to over 126,000.
"The broad availability of charging facilities makes it easier for people to use an electric car," explained Willems.
Alongside the growth in electric vehicles, hybrid cars saw a 14.42% increase in registrations in the last year. However, unlike EVs, most were registered by individuals rather than companies.
There are now 6,201,805 passenger cars in Belgium's car fleet, an increase of 1.07% in the last year.
