KUALA LUMPUR: For the first time in the country’s history, Malaysia has more vehicles than people.

Dr. Kulanthayan K.C. Mani from Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Road Safety Research Center, said the number of registered vehicles in Malaysia topped 33.3 million last year, more than the country’s population of 32.6 million.

Of this total, 47.3% are private cars, 46.6% motorcycles, 4.7% vans and trucks, while buses, taxis, rental cars and other commercial vehicles make up the remaining 1.4%.

The number of new vehicles is set to grow at the rate of about one million every year, while the population only grows by 300,000 to 400,000.