Is NZ's car ownership the highest worldwide?

When it comes to the number of households that own a car, New Zealand just might be on top of the world. A recent study conducted by Pew Research, reported by American investment magazine The Motley Fool, found eight countries where at least 80 per cent of households owned at least one car. In eighth place was Japan, at 81 per cent, followed by Lebanon, also at 81 per cent. Malaysia came in sixth, with 82 per cent of households owning a car. In fifth place was South Korea, with 83 per cent, and fourth was France, on 83 per cent. Germany came in third, with household car ownership at 85 per cent. Second place was the United States, on 88 per cent, and Italy led the study, with 89 per cent of households owning a car. The latest New Zealand census, however, found that 92.1 per cent of households had at least one car, putting Kiwis significantly further ahead of the eight countries surveyed by Pew. Two vehicles per household is the most common, at 38.4 per cent. 37.6 of households had one car – trending downwards compared to previous census – and the 16.1 per cent of households had at least three vehicles. In terms of total numbers, New Zealand had 3,524,672 vehicles in its national fleet in 2015, when the Pew study was conducted, or 0.76 cars for every Kiwi. New Zealand's high car ownership is attributed to its generally stable economic condition, supply of cheap second-hand vehicles, low population density and urban population, and underdeveloped mass transit system. Also missing from the study, Australian car ownership was very high (although not as high as New Zealand), with 91.6 of households owning at least one vehicle in the most recent census.