IEA says global electric car sales rose 35% in the second quarter as fuel prices surged

The International Energy Agency said in a report published on Thursday, 30 July 2026, titled "Electric Car Markets in a Time of Uncertainty", that global electric vehicle sales rose 35 percent in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter. Sales had fallen in the first quarter of this year, largely reflecting weaker demand in the United States and China.

The agency said the energy crisis caused by the war in the region, and the resulting fuel price volatility, drove the turnaround. Second-quarter EV sales reached record levels in 50 countries, and in sizeable car markets such as Brazil, India, Australia and Vietnam electric car sales roughly doubled between March and June 2026 compared with the same period of 2025. Ninety countries recorded annual sales growth in the first half of this year.

On the back of that jump, the agency now expects electric cars to account for 29 percent of total global car sales in 2026, one percentage point above the 28 percent it projected in May 2026, when it forecast global EV sales of 23 million units.