Official Statistics

Greenhouse gas emissions from transport in 2022

Published 12 December 2024

About this release

This release presents statistics on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport for the United Kingdom (UK). GHG data is sourced from accredited official statistics^{[footnote 1]} published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). For more information, see the About these statistics section.

Data on GHG emissions from transport can be found on the energy and environment data tables page.

In 2020, transport was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as people were instructed to stay at home as much as possible. Restrictions were eased in 2021, and the last restrictions removed in 2022, resulting in consecutive years of increasing GHG emissions from domestic transport after a significant fall in 2020. This impact should be considered when interpreting these statistics.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)

Different GHGs have different impacts on the greenhouse gas effect. All gaseous emissions are converted to the equivalent amount of CO2 needed to create the same effect and presented in this report as CO2e.

Headline figures

In 2022, domestic transport accounted for 28% of total domestic emissions in the UK.

Domestic transport was responsible for 113.2 MtCO2e (million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent), an increase of 2% compared to 2021 and a decrease of 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Domestic transport emissions have decreased by 12% since 1990, whilst total UK domestic emissions fell by 50% over the same period.

Domestic greenhouse gas emissions for transport and other sectors

Chart 1: Domestic greenhouse gas emissions for the United Kingdom by sector, 1990 to 2022 (DESNZ final UK greenhouse gas emissions 2022)

LULUCF stands for Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry.

Chart 1 is a line chart showing that:

• domestic transport emissions increased in 2021 and 2022 following a reduction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but remain 10% below pre-pandemic levels from 2019
• between 1990 and 2019, GHG emissions from domestic transport reduced by only 12% whilst emissions from other sectors reduced significantly
• since 2014, domestic transport has been the sector with the highest GHG emissions, due to a reduction over time in emissions from the historically largest-emitting sector, electricity supply^{[footnote 2]}

Chart 2: Proportion of domestic greenhouse gas emissions for the United Kingdom by sector, 2022 (DESNZ final UK greenhouse gas emissions 2022)

Chart 2 is a doughnut chart showing that, in 2022, GHG emissions from:

• domestic transport (113.2 MtCO2e) accounted for 28%
• buildings and product uses (82.8 MtCO2e) accounted for 20%
• industry (57.4 MtCO2e) and electricity supply (54.9 MtCO2e) accounted for 14% each
• agriculture and LULUCF (48.4 MtCO2e) accounted for 12%
• fuel supply (30.8 MtCO2e) accounted for 8%
• waste (18.8 MtCO2e) accounted for 5%

Domestic greenhouse gas emissions from road transport

Road transport is responsible for the majority of domestic transport GHG emissions.

Chart 3: Domestic greenhouse gas emissions for the United Kingdom by road transport modes and non-road transport, 2022 (ENV0201)

Chart 3 is a doughnut chart showing that in 2022:

• the majority (89%) of the 113.2 MtCO2e GHG emissions from domestic transport came from road vehicles (100.7 MtCO2e)
• cars and taxis accounted for the largest proportion (53%) of domestic transport GHG emissions (59.6 MtCO2e)
• HGVs contributed to 17% (19.1 MtCO2e) and light vans contributed to 16% (18.6 MtCO2e) of domestic transport GHG emissions

Domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions for the United Kingdom by sector during the COVID-19 pandemic

Chart 4: Annual change in domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions by sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019 to 2022 (DESNZ final UK greenhouse gas emissions 2022)

Chart 4 is a stacked bar chart showing that:

• total UK GHG emissions fell by 67.1 MtCO2e between 2019 and 2020, mainly due to a decrease in emissions from domestic and international aviation
• domestic transport was the main contributor to increased GHG emissions in 2021, increasing by 10% from 2020
• international transport was the main contributor to increased GHG emissions in 2022, primarily due to the 103% increase in international aviation emissions

Domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions from transport modes

Chart 5: Domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions (MtCO2e) for the United Kingdom by transport mode, 1990, 2021, and 2022 (ENV0201)

HGVs stands for Heavy Goods Vehicles.

Other domestic category includes: motorcycles and mopeds, other road transport, rail, domestic aviation, other non-road transport.

The table below contains the MtCO2e of GHG emissions for each mode of transport found in chart 5:

Table 1: Domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions (MtCO2e) for the United Kingdom by transport mode, 1990, 2021, and 2022 (ENV0201)

Transport type	1990	2021	2022
Total transport (domestic and international)	152.9	131.6	148.0
Total domestic transport	129.3	111.4	113.2
Cars and taxis	72.0	57.4	59.6
HGVs	21.3	20.2	19.1
Light vans	11.5	18.6	18.6
Buses and coaches	5.3	2.4	2.6
Motorcycles and mopeds	0.7	0.4	0.5
Other road transport	0.0	0.3	0.4
Rail	2.0	1.6	1.5
Domestic aviation	1.5	0.7	1.1
Domestic shipping	8.5	5.3	5.3
Other non-road transport	6.6	4.4	4.5
International aviation	15.5	14	28.5
International shipping	8.1	6.2	6.3

Chart 6: Trends in total greenhouse gas emissions for the United Kingdom from domestic and international transport modes over time, 1990 to 2022 (ENV0201)

Other domestic category includes: motorcycles and mopeds, other road transport, rail, domestic aviation, other non-road transport.

Chart 6 is an area chart showing that:

• in 2022, international aviation was responsible for 19% of the UK’s total GHG emissions from transport, and international shipping made up 4%
• of the 16.3 MtCO2e rise in total UK transport emissions from 2021 to 2022, international aviation was responsible for 88%
• increased international aviation emissions negated the small fall in domestic transport emissions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

Provisional greenhouse gas emissions from transport estimates for 2023

Provisional data for the UK’s domestic GHG emissions from the transport sector for 2023 have been released by DESNZ. These provisional estimates cannot be summarised by transport mode and are subject to change. This should be considered when referencing the figures.

Provisional estimates indicate that domestic transport GHG emissions have decreased 1% (1.6 MtCO2e), to 111.6 MtCO2e in 2023. This is a decrease of 11% (13.9 MtCO2e) compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019.

Methodology for the calculation of provisional estimates can be found on the Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2023 page published by DESNZ.

About these statistics

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly by email with any comments about how we meet these standards.

Domestic emissions

This report primarily focuses on UK domestic GHG emissions, which does not include international aviation and shipping. Emissions are estimated following the guidance set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as required for the UK’s submissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) each year. Under this guidance, international aviation and shipping emissions are reported but not included within the UK total. This report focuses on ‘territorial’ emissions, which are those emitted within the UK’s borders. Alternative presentations, on a residency or a consumption basis, are also available (ENV0201).

Data sources

The data we present on greenhouse gases comes from the DESNZ GHG Inventory collected and modelled by the Ricardo Consortium (a third-party contractor). To calculate transport emissions, Ricardo combine data on fuel consumption with transport data to model emissions. It covers the period 1990 to 2022.

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Contact details

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1. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. ↩

2. Context for the reduction in electricity supply emissions is available in Final UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics: 1990 to 2022, DESNZ. ↩