'French Low-Emission Zones show limited impact compared to broader vehicle replacement trends' (INSEE)

“The introduction of nine Low Emission Zones (LEZs) in French major regional cities by 2023 is encouraging the renewal of the vehicle fleet in favour of less polluting cars. However, the impact of low-emission zones remains limited compared with the natural renewal of the vehicle fleet, which is driven by the gradual obsolescence of older vehicles and their replacement with new ones”, states the French public statistics institute INSEE in a study published on 27 August 2026, which aims to analyse the effects of LEZs on the renewal of the vehicle fleet and its pollutant emissions.

Thus, “over five years, the fleet of the least polluting cars (emissions vignette Crit’Air 1 and electric) increased by 88.4 per cent in inter-municipal areas with a Low-Emission Zone, of which 5.8 percentage…