There remains significant disparity in sales figures around the world. In the first two months of the year, China accounted for half of all EV sales globally, with 1.1 million of the 2.2 million vehicles sold.
Global EV sales reached 1.1 million in February 2026, down 11% from both January 2026 and February 2025, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI).
There remains significant disparity in sales figures around the world. In the first two months of the year, China accounted for half of all EV sales globally, with 1.1 million of the 2.2 million vehicles sold, while Europe, the Rest of the World and North America accounted for 0.6 million, 0.37 million and 0.17 million sales, respectively.
Perhaps most strikingly, China’s EV sales declined by 32% between February 2025 and February 2026, which BMI attributes to the introduction of a purchase tax on EVs, for the first time since 2014, and adjustments made to a trade-in scheme.
Meanwhile, Europe saw growth in EV sales between January and February 2026, with a month-on-month increase of 1% and year-to-date growth of 21%. BMI noted that “active subsidy schemes” in France and Germany had pushed sales up 30% and 26%, respectively, and BMI data manager Charles Lester said that these changes had driven “stark regional contrasts”.
