Accredited official statistics

NTS 2023: Car availability and trends in car trips

Published 28 August 2024

Applies to England

About this release

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a 7-day travel diary, which enables analysis of patterns and trends. Please see our latest technical report for more details. This release covers car availability and trends in car trips from these travel behaviours during 2023. During 2023, there were no longer any restrictions due to the pandemic, therefore these trends offer an insight into how personal travel compared to 2019.

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. For more information, see the background information section.

Household car access

Chart 18: Percentage of households by car access: Great Britain (1971 to 1988) and England (1989 to 2023) (NTS0205)

There have been long-term increases in the proportion of households with access to more than one car since 1971, however the trend has levelled out in more recent years. Around a third (34%) of households had 2 or more cars in 2023 compared to 8% in 1971. The proportion of households with one car was 44% in 2023, however, the long-term trend has remained broadly constant since 1971. The proportion of households without a car fell from 48% in 1971 (based on the Census) to 22% in 2023. In 1985 to 1986, there were 8 cars for every 10 households in Great Britain; in 2023 there were 12 cars for every 10 households in England. These trends are comparable to the Census.

Types of vehicles people own

Chart 19: Proportion of cars^{[footnote 1]} people own by fuel type: England, 2019, 2022 and 2023 (ad hoc analyses NTSQ09029)

The NTS has a wealth of information about the types of vehicles that people own including fuel type, transmission and where they are usually parked. In England in 2023, 61% of cars (including sport utility vehicles) people owned were petrol (61% in 2022 and 61% in 2019), 31% were diesel (32% in 2022 and 37% in 2019) and 8% were another fuel type (6% in 2022 and 3% in 2019) such as plug-in hybrid or battery electric. These figures are broadly comparable with vehicle statistics based on Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data, which can be found in the department’s table VEH1103. The National Travel Attitudes Study wave 9 statistical release contains more information on attitudes towards ultra-low emission vehicles and government policies relating to them.

In England in 2023, 65% of cars (including sport utility vehicles) people owned were manual (66% in 2022 and 72% in 2019) and 35% automatic or semi-automatic (34% in 2022 and 27% in 2019).

Where people park

Around 62% of respondents usually parked their vehicles on private property (excluding garages) overnight in 2022 (this question is asked in the National Travel Survey (NTS) every other year). This has shown a general upward trend since 2002 (50%). The proportion of parked vehicles in garages overnight decreased from 22% in 2002 to 10% in 2022, showing an opposite trend to vehicles parked on private property.

Trends in car trips

Chart 20: Average car trips and miles travelled (as driver or passenger), per person per year: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0303)

Car (driver and passenger) trips made up 60% of trips and 78% of distance travelled, on average in 2023.

Average trips increased for both car drivers and passengers in 2023 to 363 trips per person and 185 trips per person respectively, however, these remained below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, there has been a gradual decline in car driver and passenger trips since 2002, with 17% and 23% fewer trips on average respectively in 2023 than levels seen in 2002. For average miles travelled by car, the trend since 2002 was similar to that for trips.

Chart 21: Proportion of car trips per person per year by trip purpose: England, 2019 to 2023 (NTS0409)

The most common purpose for a trip by car was for leisure, with 31% of trips in 2023. This was followed by shopping (20%), commuting (14%) and other escort (12%). Despite fluctuations in the number of trips overall, the proportions of those trips taken for different purposes remained similar to the previous 4 years.

Chart 22: Average car trips and miles travelled, by age and sex: England, 2023 (NTS0601)

Overall, females made more car trips than males, however, males made longer car trips. In 2023, females made 560 car trips per person and males made 535 car trips per person. Females travelled 4,340 miles per person by car, however, males travelled 5,042 miles per person by car, 16% more. Females aged up to 59 made more car trips on average compared to males, with males aged 60 and over making more car trips than females in the same age bands. Males of all ages apart from those aged under 21 made longer car journeys than females. The age group with the highest number of car trips and distance travelled on average for males was 50 to 59 with 670 trips and 7,306 miles. For females, the age group with the highest number of car trips and distance travelled on average was 40 to 49 with 776 trips and 5,814 miles.

Chart 23: Frequency of private car use: England, 2023 (NTS0313)

Around 82% of people reported to have used a private car at least once a week, and 6% less than once a year or never in 2023. These proportions were similar to the previous four years.

Household car availability and adult personal car access by household income quintile

Chart 24: Household car availability by household income quintile: England, 2023 (NTS0703)

The proportion of households which did not have access to a car decreased as household income increased in 2023. Around 44% of households in the lowest income quintile had no access to a car, compared to 15% in the highest income quintile. Conversely, having 2 or more cars is more common when income increases. Just under a half of households within the highest income quintile had 2 or more cars (45%) compared with 14% of households in the lowest income quintile.

Chart 25: Adult personal car access by household income quintile, aged 17 and over: England, 2023 (NTS0704)

In 2023, the highest income quintiles had the largest proportion of adults being main car drivers with 68% of adults in households in the fourth highest income quintile and 67% of adults in households in the highest income quintile. This compares to adults in households in the lowest income quintile where 39% were a main car driver. Adults in households in the lowest income quintile had the highest proportion of non-drivers with access to a car with 16%. This proportion reduces to 9% for adults in households in the highest income quintile.

Background information

The 2023 NTS is the latest in a series of household surveys of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a 7-day travel diary. The NTS is part of a continuous survey that began in 1988, following ad-hoc surveys from the 1960s, which enables analysis of patterns and trends.

Some key uses of the data include describing patterns, for example, how different groups of people travel, monitoring trends in travel, including sustainable modes; assessing the potential equality impacts of different groups, and contributing to the evaluation of policies.

We always welcome feedback to help ensure that the survey meets the needs of users, and any feedback provided will help inform the future design and development of the survey. If you have any feedback, please email [email protected].

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Further information is available, including:

• data tables

• notes and definitions

• guidance and quality information

• future developments

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Contact details

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Email [email protected]

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1. Excludes vans and other vehicle types. ↩