Number of cars on the road in the UK

There were around 33.2 million passenger cars in operation in the United Kingdom in 2022. UK roads have become busier since experiencing the most significant decline in the aftermath of the 2008-09 financial crisis. It remains to be seen whether the coronavirus crisis will cause a similar dent in the graph.

Car ownership per household

The majority of car owners in the UK have one car available to them. As of 2018, 53 percent of motorists had one vehicle in their household. Only one percent of respondents owned five cars or more.

Road safety

The number of car drivers involved in reported road accidents in Great Britain fell to a record-low of just under 160,000 in 2019. The age group of under 16 year olds witnessed a sharp drop in the number of traffic-related fatalities in 2019. That said, all other age groups reported an increase in fatalities between 2018 and 2019.

Number of licensed cars in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2000 and 2022 (in millions)

Characteristic	Number of cars in millions
2022	33.2
2020	32.7
2018	32.5
2016	31.8
2014	30.5
2012	30.5
2010	30.3
2008	30.3
2006	29.9
2004	29.4
2002	28.5
2000	27.2

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Release date

December 2023

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2000 to 2022

Supplementary notes

Data prior to 2014 published by British Car Auctions (BCA). From 2014 onwards, all data from the Department for Transport (UK).

This statistic is using original data from the Department for Work and Pensions and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the Open Government License v3.0

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