Accredited official statistics

Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2023 Summary

Published 19 December 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2024/transport-statistics-great-britain-2023-summary

About this release

Transport Statistics Great Britain (TSGB) presents an annual summary of statistics for cross-modal transport topics, mostly relating to the calendar year 2023. This condensed set of highlights is complemented by other Department for Transport (DfT) releases presenting more detailed and recent statistics. See the Transport Statistics Finder to explore what other statistics are published by DfT. 

Other cross-modal topics of TSGB, can be found in separate articles: 

TSGB is an accredited official statistics publication and was independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2010. For more information, see the About these statistics section. 

Overview of cross-modal transport statistics

Infographic 1: Overview of cross-modal transport statistics in 2023 by topic

Infographic 1 is a summary of the main points from the latest transport trends in Great Britain. This infographic shows that:

For domestic travel in 2023:

  • people travelled a total of 799 billion passenger kilometres, 8% higher than 2022 (TSGB0101)

    • 90% of all passenger kilometres travelled were by road

  • the average person, in England, completed 915 trips across all modes of transport, 6% higher than 2022 levels (TSGB0103), of which:

    • the majority of trips were completed using private modes of transport

    • buses were the most commonly used public transport mode

  • the most common reason for travel was shopping

  • the average commuting time in England was 29 minutes, up 2 minutes from 2022 levels (TSGB0111)

    • this ranged from 15 minutes for walking to 64 minutes by National Rail

For international travel in 2023:

  • 240.9 million passengers travelled internationally to or from UK airports, 23% higher than 2022

  • 18.1 million passengers travelled internationally by sea, 28% more than 2022

    • most international short sea passenger movements were between the UK and France (SPAS0108)

  • 18.3 million rail passengers used the Channel Tunnel, 15% higher than 2022

For domestic freight in 2023: 

  • around 207 billion tonnes of freight were moved in the UK, of which:

    • 169 billion tonne-kilometres were moved by road

Use the Transport Statistics Finder to explore, download and view the statistical content published by the department.

Chapter section Related topics
Domestic travel Aviation
Buses
Journey time statistics
Light rail and tram
National Travel Survey
Rail
Sea passengers
Walking and cycling
International travel Aviation
Rail
Sea passengers
Domestic freight Port freight
Rail
Road freight
Shipping fleet

Background Information

We would welcome any feedback on these statistics by email. We will attempt to address any comments in a subsequent release.

Notes and definitions for each of the topics covered in TSGB are available.

About these statistics

The majority of the annual, official statistics in this release were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2010. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled accredited official statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs.

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release are available.

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Contact details

Publications, dissemination and Transport Statistics Great Britain

Email [email protected]

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

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