Car theft continues to steadily fall in Australia, with an 11% drop in the number of cars and light commercial vehicles stolen last year.

Latest figures from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council show 48,726 thefts for 2009, the eighth straight year that theft numbers have fallen.

Short-term theft accounted for 37,392 vehicles, while 11,334 cases were motivated by profit. 

SA and WA were the major contributors to the decline in theft numbers, with a 25% drop in SA and a 19% fall in WA.