Top 50 countries by number of business jets registered

A Cessna Citation Sovereign private jet registered in the Isle of Man (Photo: Paul Daly).

Corporate Jet Investor has compiled a list of the top 50 business jet registries in the world.

The table below presents the top 50 countries by the number of business jets in operation. It will come as no surprise that the number of aircraft registered in the US is far greater than anywhere else in the world. Out of all of the 50 countries below, the US alone accounts for 67 per cent of business jets and 63 per cent of the global fleet.

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In sixth position with 264 aircraft, the Isle of Man, located off the coast of the UK, opened for business in May 2007 and is continuing to be seen as a popular and quick place to register aircraft.

Latin American occupies three places in the top 10, with Brazil and Mexico in second and third Venezuela at number 10. Brazil, in particular, is a vast country that takes time to travel across, so the number of smaller aircraft provide businesses with vital links between towns and cities. Although no age analysis is available, the number of older aircraft in both Mexico and Venezuela is noticeable and with little official information available, it is proved difficult to obtain true numbers of aircraft that are still currently active.

Austria’s position at number seven is partly due to a number of aircraft with Russian owners. Russia’s own import duty and tax payable on aircraft placed on the Russian register makes Austria a very attractive alternative country to register aircraft – something that also benefits the Isle of Man.

The number of business jets registered in China excludes aircraft registered in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, each of which appear under their own entries. If we were to consolidate the three countries, China would jump two places in the list to number seven. Hong Kong, in particular, has a large number of aircraft registered and appear at 35th place with 32 business jet on the register.

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