(Reuters) -Global electric vehicle sales grew 21% year-on-year in July, the slowest rate since January and down from 25% in June, as momentum in plug-in hybrid sales in China slackened, market research firm Rho Motion said on Wednesday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

China is the world's biggest car market and accounts for more than half of global EV sales, which in Rho Motion's data include battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

Its overall car sales growth slowed in July, with BYD, the world's largest EV maker, recording its third monthly drop in registrations.

The relatively muted slowdown in overall EV sales however shows other markets are taking up some of the slack, with European sales for one benefiting from incentives aimed at speeding up decarbonisation.

BY THE NUMBERS

Global sales of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids rose to 1.6 million units in July, Rho Motion data showed.

China's EV sales growth, which averaged 36% a month in the first half, eased to 12% in July as the previously booming market was dampened by a pause in some 2025 government subsidy schemes for EV and plug-in hybrid purchases, Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said.

Chinese sales reached around one million vehicles. European sales surged 48% to about 390,000 units, while North American sales climbed 10% to more than 170,000. Sales in the rest of the world jumped 55% to more than 140,000 vehicles.

KEY QUOTE

"Despite regional variations, the overall trajectory for EV adoption in 2025 remains strongly upward," Lester said.

WHAT'S NEXT

Chinese car sales are expected to return to strong growth from August as new funds become available for its subsidy schemes, while a cut in U.S. tax credits for buying or leasing new EVs at the end of September will hurt demand there, Lester added.