Stats: PH only top 8 in SE Asia motorcycle population

Vietnam most 'motorcycle populous' in SE Asia, Philippines on 8th spot

Here in the country, a lot of people who don’t ride motorcycles would tell you that the motorcycle population has already exploded in numbers and in their opinion, has become a nuisance to other road users.

But, did you know that in the whole of Southeast Asia, the Philippines only ranks as the 8^th most populous country in terms of motorcycle users?

Only 6.6% of Pinoys ride motorcycles

According to recent data from the website SEAsia Stats, The Philippines only ranks in the 8^th spot in terms of motorcycle population in all of South East Asian nations. Vietnam took the number 1 spot, with 72.8% of the entire country’s population riding motorcycles, while Malaysia and Indonesia took the number 2 and 3 spots, with 45.2% and 45.1%, respectively, of their populations riding motorcycles.

SEAsia Stats says that they got the percentage by dividing the total number of motorcycle owners/users by the total number of population for each country. SEAsia Stats also says that they have collected the figures from various sources, including each country’s statistics websites.

A quick Google search revealed that as of this writing, the Philippines has a population of approximately 117 million. If our math is right, this only equates to about 7.7 million Pinoys who own or ride their own motorcycles. The rest of the country’s 109.3 million people don’t ride motorcycles.

By comparison, 125 million out of the 277.5 million total population of Indonesia ride or own a motorcycle. Vietnam, on the other hand, has 72 million out of 99 million of its total population ride motorcycles. Indonesia and Vietnam towers the Philippines by a huge margin in terms of motorcycle population.

Number of motorcycle users will continue to grow

In a report by the Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA) – which is composed of the Japanese ‘Big 4’ motorcycle manufacturers Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki – they have sold 1,564,087 2022 and are confident that sales will continue to grow by as much as 10% in 2023.

Also in the report by the MDPPA, scooters continue to be the favorite type of motorcycle by Pinoys, selling a total of 904,343 units in 2022 and gaining a 58% market share.

With the traffic congestion back to pre-pandemic levels and fuel prices continuing to go up, more Pinoys are expected to make the switch from 4-wheels to 2-wheels, not to mention commuters who are tired of spending hours in line for the next available public transport.