Accredited official statistics

Domestic road freight statistics, United Kingdom: 2023

Published 11 July 2024

About this release

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2016. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. For more information, see the ‘about these statistics’ section.

This statistical release summarises the domestic activity of GB-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) operating in the UK during 2023. It covers the amount and type of goods carried, as well as the origin and destination of the HGV and the distance travelled.

This statistical release also summarises the activity of Northern Ireland (NI)-registered HGVs operating in the UK and in the island of Ireland during 2023.

The information is derived from surveys of businesses that operate HGVs.

Statistics on HGV driver vacancies in the UK up to March 2024 and an overview of the road freight sector in 2023 are also available.

The previous annual release on domestic road freight for 2022 is also available, as well as previous quarterly releases.

Important note for users

Data before and after 2021 should not be compared.

Data collection for domestic road freight statistics moved from a paper to online survey midway through 2021. An investigation of the data concluded that the paper data up to quarter 2 (April to June) 2021 and online data since quarter 3 (July to September) 2021 should not be compared. A number of factors related to the online data collection were considered, alongside other external factors which may have influenced recent data changes.

A detailed explanation of the methodology change and the impact on the data can be found within the methodology note.

Definitions

HGV: a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 3.5 tonnes. The gross vehicle weight is the weight of the vehicle plus the maximum possible weight of goods that can be carried.

Quarter: a calendar year quarter. In this publication, quarter 1 refers to January to March, quarter 2 refers to April to June, quarter 3 refers to July to September, and quarter 4 refers to October to December.

Goods lifted: the weight of goods carried, measured in tonnes. This is a measure of the amount of goods transported around the UK by GB-registered HGVs.

Goods moved: the weight of goods carried, multiplied by the distance hauled, measured in tonne kilometres. This is a measure of the total activity of GB-registered HGVs, accounting for both the distance travelled by each vehicle and the weight of its load.

In 2023,

1.55 billion tonnes

of goods were lifted by GB-registered HGVs operating in the UK, a decrease of 5% compared to 2022.

Infographic 1: Total amount of domestic goods lifted, goods moved, and vehicle kilometres travelled by GB-registered HGVs in 2023 and quarterly trends Table RFS0101

Infographic 1 shows that in 2023, GB-registered HGVs transporting freight within the UK:

• lifted 1.55 billion tonnes of goods, which is 5% lower than in 2022 (1.64 billion tonnes)

• moved 167 billion tonne kilometres of goods, which is 5% lower than in 2022 (175 billion tonne kilometres)

• travelled 19.0 billion kilometres, which is 3% lower than in 2022 (19.5 billion kilometres)

Trends

In 2022, 1.64 billion tonnes of goods were lifted by GB-registered HGVs in the UK. The amount remained steady throughout the year, varying by no more than 3% per quarter, with a high of 416 million tonnes in quarter 1 and low of 403 in quarter 2.

In 2023, 1.55 billion tonnes of goods lifted were lifted, which was 5% lower than in 2022.  The amount of goods fluctuated more within the year as well, with a high of 411 million tonnes in quarter 3 and low of 360 million tonnes in quarter 4.

The decrease in freight for 2023 was partly driven by the timing of the survey, explained below, which meant that the survey captured more of the Christmas periods in 2023 due to the day of the week on which Christmas fell in 2022 and 2023. However, the amount of goods lifted per week was lower on average in 2023 than in 2022, even with Christmas periods excluded. This means the estimates for 2023 domestic road freight statistics would still have decreased from the previous year, even without this timing factor.

Please see the note on timing below for more information about the methodology of the survey.

Notes on timing of the road freight survey

The domestic road freight haulage survey collects data a week at a time for each week in the year. Each week collected is assigned to a quarter based on the month in which the weeks starts. Usually, this means that each quarter has 13 weeks assigned.

Christmas periods in 2023: Due to the day of the week in which Christmas fell, data covering the period from 26 December 2022 to 1 January 2023 has been assigned to quarter 1 2023 and data from 25 December to 31 December 2023 has been assigned to quarter 4 2023. Given that road freight activity is typically lower in the period after Christmas, the inclusion of 2 Christmas periods in 2023 explains some, but not all, of the reduction for 2023.

Number of weeks in quarter 4 2023:  Because there are not precisely 13 weeks in every quarter, quarter 4 2023 had 14 weeks instead of the usual 13 weeks (this happens once in every 7 years). To ensure the figures were comparable with other quarters, a factor was applied to scale the statistics to the equivalent of the usual 13 weeks.

Commodities lifted by GB-registered HGVs

Definition

Commodity: goods are classified into commodity types and sub-categories by the ‘standard goods classification for transport statistics 2007’ NST-2007.

Infographic 2: Top 5 commodity types lifted by GB-registered HGVs in 2023 Table RFS0104

Note

Due to rounding, the sum of the top 5 commodity proportion of all goods lifted may not equal the proportion calculated from the goods lifted figures.

Infographic 2 shows the top 5 commodity types lifted by GB-registered HGVs in 2023.

The most common type of haul lifted in 2023 was groupage (25% of goods by weight, 393 million tonnes), which is where consignments contain a mixture of different commodities. This was also the most common type in 2022 (23% of goods by weight, 376 million tonnes).

The top 5 commodities type lifted remained the same top 5 as in 2022. There were some variations in the amount lifted between 2022 and 2023. The biggest difference was for glass, cement, and other non-metallic mineral products, as the amount of goods lifted in 2023 (91 million tonnes) was 25% lower than in 2022 (121 million tonnes).

Dangerous goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs

Note

The 9 dangerous goods classes are: flammable liquids, gases, corrosive substances, flammable solids, oxidisers and organic peroxides, toxic and infectious substances, radioactive materials, explosives, and miscellaneous substances.

In 2023, 4% of all goods lifted within the UK were declared as dangerous goods, accounting for 69 million tonnes. This is a similar proportion to 2022 where 5% of all goods lifted were declared as dangerous goods, accounting for 85 million tonnes.

Chart 1: Dangerous goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs by dangerous goods class in 2023 Table RFS0118

Chart 1 is a pie chart which shows that dangerous goods transported in 2023 were predominantly flammable liquids (48 million tonnes, 69%), for example, alcoholic beverages, crude petroleum, fuel, and some chemicals. This continues the trend seen in 2022, where dangerous goods were predominantly flammable liquids (57 million tonnes, 67%).

The second most common dangerous goods class lifted was gases in 2023 (9 million tonnes, 12%), an increase from 2022 (7 million tonnes, 9%). Corrosive substance was the second most common dangerous goods class in 2022 (8 million tonnes, 9%) but saw a decrease in 2023 (4 million tonnes, 6%).

Intermodal road freight activity by GB-registered HGVs

Definitions

Inter-modal: In this publication an inter-modal journey is an HGV journey where a different mode of transport is used to transfer goods to or from the HGV.

Journey: Goods transported from an origin to a destination by an HGV.

In 2023, the 1.55 billion tonnes of total goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs in the UK equated to 160 million HGV journeys.

Of the 160 million total HGV journeys, 4% (6.2 million journeys) involved at least one element of inter-modal activity. This is a similar proportion to 2022, where 4% (6.0 out of 156 million journeys) involved at least one element of inter-modal activity.

Looking at goods instead of journeys, out of the 1.55 billion tonnes of total goods lifted in 2023, 9% (133 million tonnes) were lifted using HGVs and at least one other different mode of transport.

Infographic 3: Proportion of inter-modal journeys involving GB-registered HGVs by mode of transport, in 2023 Table RFS0132

Note

The proportions of inter-modal journeys by mode may not equal to 100%. This is because an intermodal journey will appear in more than one mode if both the origin and destination of an HGV journey are intermodal sites.

Infographic 3 shows that in 2023, out of all HGV inter-modal journeys, 68% began or ended their journeys at a shipping dock, 24% began or ended their journeys at a rail sliding or terminal, and 10% began or ended their journeys at an airport.

In 2023, there was a higher proportion of journeys that started and ended at a rail sliding or terminal (24% of journeys) compared to 2022 (19% of journeys). There was also a lower proportion of journeys that started and ended at a shipping dock (68% of journeys) compared to 2022 (72% of journeys).

Intermodal commodities lifted by GB-registered HGVs

The 3 most common commodities transported on inter-modal trips during 2023 were the same as the top 3 commodities for all journeys (see the section ‘Commodities lifted by GB-registered HGVs’):

• groupage 31.7 million tonnes (24% of inter-modal tonnage was carried in consignments of mixed goods)

• mining, quarrying and metal ores 14.9 million tonnes (11% of inter-modal tonnage)

• food products 13.3 million tonnes (10% of inter-modal tonnage)

Mining, quarrying and metal ores and food products swapped places compared to 2022. In 2022, the second most common commodity type was food products (17.8 million tonnes, 14% of inter-modal tonnage), followed by mining, quarrying and metal ores (12.4 million tonnes, 10% of inter-modal tonnage).

Method of transportation of goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs

The receptable or method used to transport goods differs for inter-modal goods compared to goods transported solely by HGVs, reflecting the requirements of transferring goods between modes of transport.

Definitions

Methods of transportation:

Solid Bulk: Commodity in granular form transported unpacked in large quantities, for example, coal.

Liquid bulk: Commodity in liquid form transported unpacked in large quantities, for example, petroleum or crude oil.

Palletised goods: Commodity transported in a pallet, to support goods giving stability to commodity during transportation, for example, beverages.

Large freight container (shipping containers): Commodity transported in a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling, for example, large reusable steel boxes, corrugated boxes. 

Infographic 4: Goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs, by method of transportation for inter-modal journeys, and all journeys, in 2023 Table RFS0119 and Table RFS0135

Infographic 4 has 2 pie charts which shows that in 2023, large freight containers were the most common method of transportation used to transfer goods for inter-modal journeys (29% of journeys), followed by solid bulk (19%) and palletised goods (15%).

Across all road freight journeys, the most common method of transportation was palletised goods (27% of journeys), followed by solid bulk (23%).

Freight operations

Empty running of GB-registered vehicles

Infographic 6: Distance travelled by empty GB-registered HGVs in the UK, million kilometres, in 2023 Table RFS0117

Infographic 5 shows that in 2023, GB-registered HGVs travelled 5,776 million kilometres whilst empty. This is 30% of total (loaded and empty) vehicle kilometres travelled during the same period (18,987 million kilometres).

This is similar to 2022, where GB-registered HGVs also travelled empty for 30% of total vehicle kilometres travelled (5,846 out of 19,533 million kilometres).

Average length of haul of GB-registered vehicles

Definition

Average length of haul:  Calculated by dividing the total tonne kilometres (goods moved) by the total tonnes lifted (goods lifted). This is not the average distance travelled by HGVs, but an internationally recognised measure of the average distance travelled by each tonne of freight.

In 2023, the average length of haul was 107 kilometres for GB-registered HGVs, the same as in 2022 (107 kilometres).

The average length of haul for articulated HGVs was 137 kilometres, which was longer than that of rigid HGVs at 57 kilometres. This was like 2022, when the average length of haul for articulated HGVs was 136 kilometres, longer than that of rigid HGVs at 60 kilometres. Table RFS0108.

Goods lifted by vehicle type GB-registered HGVs

Infographic 6: Goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs by vehicle type in 2023 Table RFS0109

Infographic 6 shows that in 2023, rigid vehicles lifted 37% of total goods (573 out of 1,552 million tonnes) and articulated vehicles lifted 63% of total goods (979 million tonnes).

This is similar to 2022, when rigid vehicles lifted 38% of total goods (629 out of 1,640 million tonnes) and articulated vehicles lifted 62% of total goods (1,011 million tonnes).

Road freight activity by Northern Ireland registered HGVs

Note

The domestic road freight haulage survey for Northern Ireland (NI) measures road freight activity within the UK by HGVs registered in Northern Ireland and is run in parallel to the domestic road freight haulage survey for GB-registered vehicles.

The surveys sample sizes are proportional to the numbers of HGV in each country. Due to a smaller sample size for the NI survey, further breakdowns are often not possible to avoid disclosure.

Infographic 7: Road freight activity of NI-registered HGVs within the UK, in 2023 Table RFS0130

Infographic 7 shows that in 2023, within the UK, NI-registered HGVs transporting freight:

• lifted 49.9 million tonnes of goods, which is 10% less than in 2022 (55.2 million tonnes) 

• moved 4.9 billion tonne kilometres of goods, which is 6% less than in 2022 (5.2 billion tonne kilometres)

Of the total amount of goods lifted by NI-registered vehicles within the UK, 77% was lifted completely within Northern Ireland. This compares to 82% of the total amount of goods lifted in 2022 within the UK.

In addition to the goods lifted within the UK in 2023, a further 1.9 million tonnes of goods were lifted between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland by NI-registered vehicles. This compares to 2.3 million tonnes of goods lifted in 2022 (Table RFS0131).

Further sources of information

Other statistics related to freight and trade are available.

International road freight statistics

Road goods vehicles travelling to Europe

ONS UK trade statistical bulletins

Port freight annual statistics

Rail freight statistics

Aviation statistics

About these statistics

These statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2016. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

The continued designation of the road freight statistics as accredited official statistics was confirmed following a compliance check by the Office for Statistics Regulation against the Code of Practice in July 2016.

Data source

Previously domestic road freight data was collected via paper surveys until 1 August 2021, when the method to collect data transitioned to an online survey.

This annual statistical release summarises the domestic activity of GB-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) operating in the UK during 2023. It covers the amount and type of goods carried, as well as their origin and destination and the distance the HGVs travelled.

A separate chapter is available on HGV driver vacancies in the UK, up to March 2024. It covers HGV driver vacancies, the impact of vacancies on deliveries, financial incentives and wage increases for HGV drivers.

Accompanying data tables are available which give further detail on the key results presented in this statistical release.

Further information about the statistics and methodology in this report can be found in the road freight domestic and international statistics guidance.

Strengths and weaknesses of data

The domestic road freight figures in this release are derived from a continuous survey sent to road freight businesses, the domestic road haulage survey. The survey provides information on the activity of UK-registered HGVs operating across the UK only.

These statistics exclude foreign-registered HGVs and vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 3.5 tonnes or less (light goods vehicles and vans).

The figures also exclude GB-registered HGVs when operating outside of the UK. For information on GB-registered HGVs making international trips please see the accompanying international road freight statistics.

This survey is based on a stratified sample of HGVs. Figures are weighted to be representative of the HGV population however, like any survey, the figures in this publication are estimates with potential sampling errors. The sample sizes and sampling error estimates of the statistics can be found within Table RFS0129, broken down by type and weight of vehicle. In 2023, there were 8,333 GB-registered vehicles in the sample.

Guidance on the methods used to compile these statistics can be found in the road freight statistics notes and definitions.

This release uses administrative data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). More detail is available on the impact of this on the quality of these statistics.

Data comparability and 2021 methodology change

Before quarter 3 2021, data was collected via paper questionnaires. At the start of quarter 3 2021, the survey forms transitioned from paper to online format. Here, the vehicle operator provides the same information as previously requested in the paper survey. The new online survey has been made more intuitive based on extensive user testing.

The structure has been streamlined and guidance provided for each relevant question to aid interpretation. This increases the likelihood of respondents providing information that more accurately reflects the vehicles true activity, therefore providing more accurate estimates of the overall HGV population.

Due to the methodology change, comparisons between paper (before quarter 3 2021) and online data should not be made. This means no long-term data trends are available for these statistics. More information regarding the methodology change can be found within the methodology note. Long term trends on the level of HGV traffic in Great Britain over time are available in DfT’s road traffic statistics.

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Contact details

Road freight statistics

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