EU exports of electric and hybrid cars rose by 69% last year to 42 billion euro ($44.26 billion), exceeding imports for the second year, according to Eurostat data, Reuters reports.

In 2021, exports of hybrid cars, without external recharging, rose to 22.9 billion euro, while exports of all-electric cars reached 12.3 billion, and those of plug-in hybrid vehicles increased to 6.8 billion euro.

The total value of imports increased by 40%, to 29 billion euro, Eurostat data show.

Also, the value of exports exceeded the value of imports in 2021, after in 2020, the value of imports exceeded the value of exports.

Great Britain was the most important destination for EU exports of hybrid cars without recharging from external sources and fully electric cars, representing 26% and 28% of the total, respectively, followed by Norway and the United States, according to Agerpres.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles were mainly exported to the UK, China and the USA.

Japan was the home market for 23% of EU imports of non-rechargeable hybrid cars from external sources in 2021. For all-electric cars, China was responsible for 43% of imports, while plug-in hybrids were mostly imported from the United States.