What do the UK vehicle and road traffic statistics measure?

They track the number of licensed and off-road (SORN) vehicles, total vehicle miles travelled across different road classes, and the public electric vehicle charging network in the UK.

How far back does the UK vehicle and road traffic dataset go?

Quarterly data from the Department for Transport begin in 1994 and update every quarter with the latest UK road transport figures.

Which road types are reported in the UK traffic statistics?

Traffic volumes in billion vehicle miles are broken down by motorways, rural 'A' roads, minor urban roads and all roads combined across Great Britain and the UK.

What electric vehicle charging metrics are included for the UK?

The dataset reports total public chargers, public chargers per 100,000 people across UK regions, and the ratio of battery electric vehicles per public charger.

UK vehicles, road traffic and EV chargers

Name: UK vehicles, road traffic and EV chargers
Creator: GOV.UK official statistics; Department for Transport (DfT)
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The UK road fleet and how much it is driven, quarterly: vehicles licensed and declared off the road (SORN) by body type; vehicle miles by cars, vans, lorries and other vehicles on motorways and other roads; and public electric vehicle chargers by region and power band, with electric vehicles per charger (Department for Transport).

Source: GOV.UK official statistics; Department for Transport (DfT)Last updated: Sep 28, 2026, 05:13Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	Q2-2026	Q1-2026	Q4-2025	Q3-2025	Q2-2025	Q1-2025	Q4-2024	Q3-2024	Q2-2024	Q1-2024	Q4-2023	Q3-2023	Q2-2023
Licensed vehicles and SORN (DfT)8
All licensed vehicles6
United Kingdom	42,897.08	42,448.48	42,283.51	42,432.72	42,261.23	41,888.13	41,664.43	41,863.33	41,745.58	41,384.68	41,175.28	41,324.64	41,202.6
Great Britain	41,539.4	41,107.6	40,949.68	41,095.9	40,932.37	40,577.93	40,366.05	40,561.11	40,448.91	40,100.97	39,901.21	40,044.82	39,928.21
England	35,431.42	35,041.33	34,892.65	35,000.01	34,852.61	34,542.18	34,369.13	34,526.93	34,436.62	34,142.51	33,968.68	34,098.95	33,988.18
Scotland	3,250.22	3,219.76	3,214.38	3,236.67	3,222.11	3,188.12	3,173.82	3,191.99	3,181.06	3,151.22	3,132.22	3,149.87	3,137.07
Wales	2,135.06	2,112.2	2,106.16	2,116.47	2,107.73	2,086.66	2,074.89	2,084.92	2,077.85	2,056.17	2,046.38	2,055.78	2,046.11
Northern Ireland	1,357.69	1,340.88	1,333.84	1,336.82	1,328.86	1,310.2	1,298.39	1,302.22	1,296.67	1,283.71	1,274.07	1,279.82	1,274.39
Licensed cars6
United Kingdom	34,888.14	34,627.41	34,485.45	34,486.33	34,353.22	34,157.2	33,966.63	34,025.02	33,935.94	33,734.5	33,579.95	33,582.18	33,488.17
Great Britain	33,796.88	33,545.6	33,408.15	33,410.21	33,282.73	33,097.24	32,914.84	32,973.78	32,888.48	32,694.77	32,546.01	32,547.18	32,456.76
England	28,873.5	28,636.29	28,500.67	28,499.77	28,379	28,208.51	28,051.75	28,095.07	28,027.99	27,857.67	27,721.91	27,736.81	27,646.58
Scotland	2,640.16	2,625.08	2,622.01	2,628.84	2,620.24	2,605.04	2,596.17	2,600.11	2,593.09	2,579.01	2,566.49	2,569.58	2,559.76
Wales	1,674.61	1,663.53	1,659.87	1,660.86	1,655.24	1,646.2	1,638.7	1,640.89	1,636.18	1,625.91	1,619.02	1,620.34	1,613.76
Northern Ireland	1,091.27	1,081.81	1,077.3	1,076.12	1,070.49	1,059.97	1,051.79	1,051.25	1,047.46	1,039.73	1,033.93	1,035	1,031.42
Licensed motorcycles6
United Kingdom	1,485.9	1,368.37	1,360.27	1,476.29	1,475.1	1,362.4	1,355.1	1,469.45	1,469.71	1,373.94	1,353.94	1,470.4	1,472.17
Great Britain	1,454.41	1,340.94	1,333.11	1,445.35	1,444.26	1,335.53	1,328.8	1,439.31	1,439.56	1,346.9	1,327.55	1,440.05	1,441.73
England	1,265.91	1,173.07	1,170.65	1,261.12	1,257.5	1,168.55	1,167.04	1,257.31	1,255.01	1,180.2	1,166.78	1,257.26	1,257.06
Scotland	92.63	80.11	79.5	91.8	91.44	79.25	78.38	90.33	90.09	79.84	77.7	90.19	90.12
Wales	76.74	69.98	69.34	75.81	75.45	69.43	68.82	74.79	74.64	68.85	68.19	74.66	73.97
Northern Ireland	31.49	27.43	27.16	30.95	30.84	26.87	26.3	30.14	30.16	27.04	26.39	30.35	30.44
Licensed light goods vehicles6
United Kingdom	4,958.08	4,899.8	4,886.85	4,909.27	4,872.24	4,823.44	4,796.96	4,816.52	4,792.54	4,741.17	4,710.28	4,731.81	4,705
Great Britain	4,798.82	4,743.31	4,731.76	4,753.86	4,718.68	4,673.13	4,649.29	4,668.61	4,645.83	4,596.08	4,567.6	4,588.74	4,563.23
England	4,068.4	4,019.38	4,008.77	4,025.03	3,996.37	3,956.78	3,939.99	3,959.53	3,942.33	3,904.07	3,881.74	3,900.2	3,880.83
Scotland	376.43	372.6	370.88	373.31	368.18	362.97	358.81	360.54	357.22	352.74	348.56	349.81	347.47
Wales	281.82	277.76	276.47	277.97	275.38	270.62	267.48	269.27	266.94	262.28	260.03	261.37	258.91
Northern Ireland	159.27	156.49	155.09	155.41	153.57	150.31	147.67	147.9	146.71	145.09	142.68	143.07	141.77
Licensed heavy goods vehicles6
United Kingdom	539.51	536.15	537.48	540.14	538.66	532.26	534.31	538.38	538.08	533.85	534.97	540.84	540.77
Great Britain	513.46	510.17	511.69	514.08	512.6	506.65	508.88	512.67	512.42	508.59	510.01	515.52	515.58
England	447.94	443.27	444.58	444.99	442.98	438.61	440.67	443.92	443.45	440.21	441.66	446.24	446.51
Scotland	34.81	36.4	36.6	37.11	37.13	36.62	36.44	36.69	36.71	36.48	36.51	37.06	36.76
Wales	24.63	24.27	24.22	25.38	25.35	24.87	24.8	25.04	25.06	24.62	24.65	24.89	24.94
Northern Ireland	26.06	25.98	25.79	26.06	26.07	25.62	25.43	25.71	25.66	25.27	24.96	25.31	25.19
Licensed buses and coaches6
United Kingdom	143.58	142.82	143.23	144.43	144.77	143.09	142.9	143.38	142.73	141.8	141.31	142.92	143.03
Great Britain	138.49	137.52	138	139.19	139.7	137.88	137.7	138.14	137.73	136.66	136.17	137.72	138.07
England	116.13	115.4	115.86	116.55	116.9	115.32	115.39	115.71	115.34	114.49	114	115.07	115.32
Scotland	12.86	12.73	12.78	12.95	12.99	12.84	12.58	12.67	12.75	12.65	12.59	12.79	12.88
Wales	8.4	8.3	8.34	8.41	8.51	8.44	8.42	8.48	8.5	8.44	8.5	8.63	8.73
Northern Ireland	5.09	5.29	5.23	5.24	5.07	5.22	5.21	5.24	5	5.14	5.14	5.2	4.96
Vehicles with a SORN, all types6
United Kingdom	7,019.52	7,198.81	7,080.34	6,707.37	6,606.11	6,749.41	6,683.34	6,428.46	6,349.24	6,400.45	6,396.72	6,007.42	5,878.63
Great Britain	6,594.15	6,774.11	6,666.92	6,312.17	6,219.46	6,361.95	6,302.21	6,055.54	5,981.55	6,036.8	6,037.08	5,663.27	5,542.06
England	5,375.29	5,529.9	5,445.58	5,149.83	5,072.73	5,197.21	5,092.19	4,797.6	4,706.26	4,760.57	4,766.76	4,458.73	4,358.83
Scotland	532.62	549.03	539.63	506.46	498.52	513.41	504.07	472.86	463.9	467.15	472.28	439.17	430.38
Wales	439.09	447.86	440.59	419.47	412.3	418.45	410.95	392.77	386.6	389.13	388.91	368.14	360.4
Northern Ireland	425.36	424.7	413.43	395.21	386.64	387.46	381.14	372.92	367.68	363.65	359.64	344.15	336.58
Cars with a SORN6
United Kingdom	3,996.75	4,067.02	4,004.93	3,836.64	3,777.91	3,825.44	3,786.51	3,676.68	3,633.31	3,649.55	3,627.42	3,437.22	3,363.69
Great Britain	3,722.27	3,794.28	3,738.73	3,579.9	3,526.43	3,574.24	3,539.32	3,432.73	3,392.6	3,411.1	3,392.39	3,210.4	3,141.71
England	3,010.65	3,074.73	3,030.27	2,897.67	2,853.19	2,897.84	2,830.52	2,682.81	2,630.12	2,650.64	2,637.88	2,486.46	2,429.18
Scotland	295.59	301.1	296.22	282.67	278.54	282.89	277.56	264	259.38	259.5	259.77	245.83	241.23
Wales	242.21	245	241.56	232.78	228.83	230.43	226.18	218.32	215.19	215.58	214.21	205.29	201.49
Northern Ireland	274.48	272.75	266.2	256.75	251.48	251.2	247.19	243.95	240.71	238.45	235.03	226.82	221.98
Road traffic (DfT)1
All motor vehicles10
All roads		81.3	85.4	89	87.6	80.7	83.2	87	85.7	80.2	81.9	86.2	84.6
Motorways		16.4	17.8	19.3	18.4	16.4	17.2	18.7	17.9	16.4	17.2	18.9	17.9
Rural 'A' roads		24.2	25.4	27.1	26.5	24.1	24.7	26.5	25.8	23.8	24.2	26.1	25.3
Urban 'A' roads		11.9	12.2	12.4	12.3	11.7	12	12.2	12.2	11.6	11.8	12	11.9
Minor rural roads		12.1	12.8	13.1	13.2	12	12.3	12.8	12.8	11.8	12.1	12.6	12.7
Minor urban roads		16.7	17.2	17	17.2	16.6	17	16.8	17.1	16.6	16.7	16.6	16.8
Cars and taxis6
All roads		62.1	65.5	68.1	67.1	61.8	63.4	66.2	65.3	61.2	62.3	65.4	64.3
Motorways		11.4	12.6	13.8	13.1	11.4	11.9	13.1	12.5	11.3	11.9	13.2	12.5
Rural 'A' roads		18.3	19.3	20.5	20.1	18.2	18.7	19.9	19.5	18	18.2	19.6	19
Urban 'A' roads		9.6	9.8	10	9.9	9.4	9.6	9.8	9.7	9.3	9.4	9.6	9.5
Minor rural roads		9.1	9.7	9.9	10	9.2	9.3	9.7	9.7	8.9	9.1	9.5	9.6
Minor urban roads		13.7	14.1	13.9	14.1	13.6	13.9	13.7	14	13.7	13.7	13.5	13.7
Light commercial vehicles (vans)6
All roads		14.3	14.8	15.1	14.9	14	14.7	15.1	14.8	14	14.4	15	14.6
Motorways		3.1	3.2	3.5	3.3	3	3.3	3.5	3.3	3.1	3.2	3.5	3.3
Rural 'A' roads		4.3	4.4	4.6	4.5	4.2	4.4	4.6	4.5	4.2	4.3	4.5	4.4
Urban 'A' roads		1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.8
Minor rural roads		2.6	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.5	2.7	2.7	2.7
Minor urban roads		2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.5
Heavy goods vehicles4
All roads		3.9	4	4.2	4.1	3.9	4.1	4.3	4.2	4	4.2	4.4	4.3
Motorways		1.9	1.9	2	1.9	1.9	2	2	2	1.9	2	2.1	2
Rural 'A' roads		1.4	1.5	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.6
Urban 'A' roads		0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4
Other vehicles (motorcycles, buses and coaches), all roads		1	1	1.5	1.5	1	1	1.4	1.4	1	1	1.4	1.4
Public electric vehicle chargers (DfT)7
Public EV chargers15
United Kingdom	121,171	119,080	116,052	114,486	110,132	105,771	102,771
Great Britain	120,015	117,935	114,944	113,355	109,079	104,735	101,738
England	101,258	99,551	97,235	95,496	91,772	88,174	86,085
North East	4,147	3,986	3,834	3,560	3,552	3,438	3,504
North West	8,678	8,376	8,120	8,142	7,804	7,395	7,271
Yorkshire and The Humber	6,281	6,254	6,153	6,349	6,202	5,783	5,720
East Midlands	6,153	6,263	6,119	5,405	5,277	5,389	5,505
West Midlands	10,143	10,059	9,890	9,723	9,732	9,083	8,689
East of England	9,880	9,887	9,269	9,103	8,898	8,552	8,249
London	31,371	30,909	30,728	29,522	27,406	26,505	25,474
South East	15,373	14,750	14,406	14,869	14,471	13,838	13,726
South West	9,232	9,067	8,716	8,823	8,430	8,191	7,947
Wales	5,910	5,712	5,644	5,610	5,237	4,936	4,754
Scotland	12,847	12,672	12,065	12,249	12,070	11,625	10,899
Northern Ireland	1,156	1,145	1,108	1,131	1,053	1,036	1,033
Public 50kW+ EV chargers (rapid and ultra-rapid)15
United Kingdom	28,887	27,372	26,378	25,590	24,813	23,880	22,997
Great Britain	28,515	27,017	26,056	25,275	24,513	23,584	22,743
England	23,874	22,585	21,797	20,888	20,164	19,528	19,031
North East	1,023	950	893	823	807	742	693
North West	3,098	2,929	2,853	2,724	2,543	2,358	2,263
Yorkshire and The Humber	2,075	1,967	1,881	1,923	1,818	1,813	1,712
East Midlands	2,367	2,239	2,192	1,814	1,771	1,734	1,769
West Midlands	2,825	2,676	2,559	2,442	2,354	2,293	2,357
East of England	3,210	3,040	2,892	2,719	2,631	2,440	2,357
London	2,533	2,455	2,329	2,213	2,190	2,228	2,229
South East	3,830	3,597	3,506	3,597	3,536	3,506	3,375
South West	2,913	2,732	2,692	2,633	2,514	2,414	2,276
Wales	1,364	1,261	1,273	1,231	1,175	1,111	1,047
Scotland	3,277	3,171	2,986	3,156	3,174	2,945	2,665
Northern Ireland	372	355	322	315	300	296	254
Public EV chargers per 100,000 people15
United Kingdom	174.9	171.88	167.51	165.25	158.96	152.67	148.34
Great Britain	178.19	175.1	170.66	168.3	161.95	155.5	151.05
England	172.74	169.82	165.87	162.91	156.55	150.42	146.85
North East	150.22	144.38	138.88	128.95	128.66	124.53	126.93
North West	112.16	108.25	104.94	105.23	100.86	95.57	93.97
Yorkshire and The Humber	110.72	110.24	108.46	111.92	109.33	101.94	100.83
East Midlands	121.52	123.7	120.85	106.75	104.22	106.44	108.73
West Midlands	163.94	162.58	159.85	157.15	157.29	146.8	140.44
East of England	150.24	150.34	140.95	138.42	135.3	130.04	125.44
London	345.13	340.04	338.05	324.78	301.5	291.59	280.25
South East	159.42	152.96	149.39	154.2	150.07	143.5	142.34
South West	156.75	153.95	147.99	149.8	143.13	139.07	134.93
Wales	185.47	179.25	177.12	176.05	164.35	154.9	149.19
Scotland	231.61	228.45	217.51	220.83	217.6	209.58	196.49
Northern Ireland	59.96	59.39	57.47	58.67	54.62	53.74	53.58
Public 50kW+ EV chargers per 100,000 people15
United Kingdom	41.7	39.51	38.07	36.94	35.81	34.47	33.19
Great Britain	42.34	40.11	38.69	37.53	36.39	35.02	33.77
England	40.73	38.53	37.18	35.63	34.4	33.31	32.46
North East	37.06	34.41	32.35	29.81	29.23	26.88	25.1
North West	40.04	37.86	36.87	35.21	32.87	30.48	29.25
Yorkshire and The Humber	36.58	34.67	33.16	33.9	32.05	31.96	30.18
East Midlands	46.75	44.22	43.29	35.83	34.98	34.25	34.94
West Midlands	45.66	43.25	41.36	39.47	38.05	37.06	38.09
East of England	48.81	46.23	43.98	41.35	40.01	37.1	35.84
London	27.87	27.01	25.62	24.35	24.09	24.51	24.52
South East	39.72	37.3	36.36	37.3	36.67	36.36	35
South West	49.46	46.39	45.71	44.71	42.68	40.99	38.64
Wales	42.8	39.57	39.95	38.63	36.87	34.86	32.86
Scotland	59.08	57.17	53.83	56.9	57.22	53.09	48.04
Northern Ireland	19.3	18.41	16.7	16.34	15.56	15.35	13.18
Public EV chargers by power band, UK4
Standard (3–8 kW)	59,587	60,039	57,807
Standard plus (8–49 kW)	32,697	31,669	31,867
Rapid (50–149 kW)	14,891	14,451	14,451
Ultra-rapid (150 kW and above)	13,996	12,921	11,927
Battery electric vehicles per public charger		16.85	16.14	15.36	14.76	14.34	13.56
Plug-in vehicles per public charger		25.13	24.01	22.93	22.06	21.44	20.38

Latest reading

United Kingdom stood at 42,897.08 Thousands in Q2 2026. That is +1.1% from Q1 2026 and +1.5% from a year earlier. The series on this page is quarterly and runs from Q3 2014 to Q2 2026. Source: GOV.UK official statistics; Department for Transport (DfT).

Latest: 42,897.08 Thousands; Q2 2026
vs previous period: +1.1%; Q1 2026
vs a year earlier: +1.5%

About this data

Frequently asked questions

What do the UK vehicle and road traffic statistics measure?: They track the number of licensed and off-road (SORN) vehicles, total vehicle miles travelled across different road classes, and the public electric vehicle charging network in the UK.
How far back does the UK vehicle and road traffic dataset go?: Quarterly data from the Department for Transport begin in 1994 and update every quarter with the latest UK road transport figures.
Which road types are reported in the UK traffic statistics?: Traffic volumes in billion vehicle miles are broken down by motorways, rural 'A' roads, minor urban roads and all roads combined across Great Britain and the UK.
What electric vehicle charging metrics are included for the UK?: The dataset reports total public chargers, public chargers per 100,000 people across UK regions, and the ratio of battery electric vehicles per public charger.