Canadians are continuing to travel by car despite rising pump prices, Statistics Canada suggests in a report released Thursday on energy costs.

In 2007, Canadians drove 332 billion kilometres, an increase of 5.2 per cent from 2002, the federal agency said, noting the number of new cars on the road has also grown, climbing 9.4 per cent since 2002.

By comparison, a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration found Americans drove 19.6 billion fewer kilometres in June in year-over-year comparisons.

Statistics Canada said rising incomes coupled with lower prices for cars have helped counterbalance the 7.2 per cent price increase at the pumps between 2002 and 2007.

"The combination of higher prices and increased gasoline consumption has raised the portion of income consumers allocate to gasoline to 3.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2008, from 2.9 per cent in 2002," the report said.

"The increase in spending on gasoline since 2002 was offset by the drop in the share of income devoted to purchasing autos, from 6.2 per cent to 5.3 per cent. The drop for autos entirely reflects lower prices, as Canadians increased vehicle purchases over the last six years."

Canadians in the past have demonstrated they've been willing to cut back on driving in response to high pump prices.

For example, gasoline consumption dropped 12.1 per cent between 1980 and 1984 and 5.1 per cent between 1989 and 1991 as prices surged. The report suggests during both of these periods, recessions forced consumers to scale back. However, incomes have increased steadily between 2002 and 2008.

The Statistics Canada report also suggests increased demands on public transportation are a reflection of population growth rather than reaction to surging pump prices.

Meanwhile, natural gas prices have increased 32 per cent between 2002 and 2008 while oil for home heating has increased 123 per cent, the report said.