IEA Expects Electric Vehicles to Account for 29% of Global Car Sales in 2026
Member-only story
IEA Expects Electric Vehicles to Account for 29% of Global Car Sales in 2026
4 min read
·
Aug 7, 2026
\--
2
Share
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised its forecast for the global electric vehicle market in an update to its Global EV Outlook 2026.
In May, the IEA projected that 23 million electric cars would be sold worldwide in 2026, representing 28% of total car sales. The agency now expects EVs to capture a 29% market share, while keeping its sales-volume forecast unchanged at 23 million vehicles.
Press enter or click to view image in full size
The upward revision is partly explained by a sharp decline in sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in China, the world’s largest car market.
The IEA expects electric vehicle sales in China to remain broadly in line with the previous year. However, EVs are projected to account for more than 60% of all new cars sold in the country.
EV Sales Rebounded in the Second Quarter
Electric vehicle sales recovered in the second quarter of 2026 despite an overall contraction in the global automotive market.
Quarterly EV sales were 4% higher than a year earlier and 35% above the level recorded in the first quarter of 2026. As a result, global electric vehicle sales during the first half of the year were only slightly below those recorded in the same period of 2025, as…