Miles driven by vans have more than doubled since 1993, while car miles rose by 25%
Miles driven by all motor vehicles on all roads, in total and by type of vehicle, Great Britain, each year from 1949 to 2025. Billions of miles.
Vans were driven 25.8 billion miles in 1993 and 58.8 billion in 2025; cars 210.1 billion and 262.4 billion.
Latest figures
| Series | Period | Value |
|---|---|---|
| All motor vehicles | 2025 | 342.6bn |
| Cars and taxis | 2025 | 262.4bn |
| Vans | 2025 | 58.8bn |
| Lorries | 2025 | 16.3bn |
| Motorcycles, buses and coaches | 2025 | 5.0bn |
Findings
Notes
- Traffic is measured in vehicle miles: the miles driven by every vehicle added together, so a car driving 10 miles counts as 10. It shows how much driving there is, not how many vehicles there are.
- The Department for Transport estimates it from its National Road Traffic Survey, which counts passing vehicles at sites across the road network, scaled up by the length of each kind of road. Bicycles are not included.
- Vans are goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes; lorries are goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. These weight limits apply after 1982; earlier years use the definitions of the time.
- Figures from 1993 onwards are not directly comparable with those for 1992 and earlier, the Department for Transport says.
- Figures for 2000 are affected by the fuel protests that September, those for 2001 by the foot and mouth outbreak, and those for 2020 to 2022 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources
More on transport
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