A new International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis points to a strong second-quarter recovery in electric vehicle (EV) sales globally, as the energy crisis sparked by the war in the Middle East brought fuel price volatility back into focus.

The second-quarter rebound was not fully able to offset weak demand in the key Chinese and US markets during the first quarter, however.

Global electric car sales during the first half of the year were, thus, about 1% lower than in the same period of 2025; a relatively resilient performance amid a 5% fall in overall global car sales from January to the end of June.

“Despite more than 90 countries seeing higher year-on-year sales, the almost 20% drop in electric car sales in China strongly impacted global sales volumes,” the report states.

South Africa was among the markets listed, with EV sales growing fivefold in the first half of the year, as African sales doubled to over 300 000.

Europe recorded the strongest growth in electric car sales of the major EV markets during the first half of 2026, with particularly strong sales across the first six months recorded in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.

Likewise, sales in the sizeable EV markets of Australia, Brazil, India, Korea and Viet Nam roughly doubled between March and June compared with the same period in 2025.

Over nine-million electric cars were sold worldwide in the first half of 2026, with more than five-million sold in the second quarter alone, during which sales surged by 35% when compared with the first quarter and were up 4% year-on-year.

As a result of this momentum – together with new and continued policy support in a number of markets, including Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia – the IEA is now expecting electric car sales to reach 29% of total car sales worldwide in 2026.

However, a weaker car market in China will weigh on global EV sales across 2026, even as over 60% of total car sales in that country are set to be electric, an all-time high.

Amid this stagnation, Chinese EV exports are rising, with exports from China in the first half of 2026 almost matching the total for all of 2025.