National statistics

Vehicle licensing statistics: July to September 2022

Published 13 December 2022

Accessibility of tables

The department is currently working to make our tables accessible for our users. The data tables for these statistics are now accessible.

We would welcome any feedback on the accessibility of our tables, please contact vehicles statistics.

About this release

This release presents statistics on motor vehicles in the United Kingdom (UK), which are based on administrative data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). These statistics cover:

• new vehicle registrations
• licensed vehicles
• plug-in vehicles
• zero emission vehicles

A range of detailed data tables and large data files are available online.

These statistics cover the whole of the United Kingdom, which is Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland. However, long term trends (over 7 years) can only be looked at for Great Britain, as the United Kingdom data are only available from July 2014.

Headline figures

Latest figures for 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), show that the number of new registrations was down 1% in the UK, with new plug-in vehicles up 5%.

The total number of licensed plug-in vehicles reached the 1 million milestone at the end of September 2022.

At the end of September 2022, there were 1 million licensed plug-in vehicles in the UK, which is 2.5% or 1 in 40 of all licensed vehicles.

Comparing 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) with 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September), there were:

• 551,000 vehicles registered for the first time in the UK, down 1% (VEH0150)
• 89,000 plug-in vehicles (PiVs) registered for the first time in the UK, up 5% (VEH1153a)
• 60,000 battery electric (BEV) cars registered for the first time in the UK, up 18% (VEH1153a)

At the end of September 2022, there were 1 million licensed plug-in vehicles in the UK. This was 1 in 40 (2.5%) of all licensed road using vehicles, up from 1 in 61 (1.6%) at the end of September 2021. (VEH1103a)

Average CO2 emissions for cars registered for the first time in the UK decreased by 1% in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) compared to 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September). (VEH0156)

At the end of September 2022, there were 40.8 million licensed vehicles in the UK, an increase of 0.7% compared to the end of September 2021. (VEH0101a)

Table 1: Key measures within these statistics (notes and definitions)

Key measure	Description
Vehicles registered for the first time	Vehicles that were first registered with DVLA during that time period. This is very similar to ‘new sales’ but also includes imported vehicles or those used beforehand. This is sometimes called new registrations.
Licensed vehicles	All vehicles that can legally use the road. This is sometimes called total stock.
Road using vehicles	Vehicles that would reasonably be expected to make significant use of the public highway and to be used as a mode of transport.
Plug-in vehicles (PiVs)	Road using vehicles that use a plug-in technology to connect to a source of electricity.
Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs)	Road using vehicles that are reported to emit less than 75 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the tailpipe for every kilometre travelled.

Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19)

Vehicle licensing data covering March 2020 onwards have been affected by:

• the government’s measures to limit the impact and transmission of COVID-19
• the wider impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy
• worldwide, ongoing issues in the semi-conductor supply chain

Improvements made in this release

If you have any feedback on any of these changes, please contact vehicles statistics.

Country within the UK

In this release we have added the geographic breakdown by country to our statistical tables (with the exception of make and model data). This means statistics are now also published separately for:

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

Datafile changes

Following feedback from our users, we have added the keepership breakdown to the following lower super output area (LSOA) datafiles:

• df_VEH0125
• df_VEH0135
• df_VEH0145

New vehicle registrations: overview

There were 551,000 vehicles registered for the first time in the UK during 2022 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep). This was a 1% decrease compared to 2021 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep) and a 29% decrease compared to 2020 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep). (VEH0150)

Chart 1: Vehicles registered for the first time in the third quarter (Jul to Sep), Great Britain, 1980 to 2022 (VEH0150)

Chart 1 shows the long-term trends in new registrations in the third quarter (Jul to Sep) for Great Britain (UK data are only available from July 2014 onwards). Between 1980 and 1998, new registrations in the third quarter (Jul to Sep) fluctuated between 520,000 and 880,000 vehicles. In 1999, the month(s) that DVLA issued new number plates moved from August to March and September. Subsequently, between 1999 and 2020, new registrations in the third quarter (Jul to Sep) fluctuated between 640,000 and 890,000 vehicles, the highest peak ever in the third quarter (Jul to Sep) occurring in 2016.

Following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, new registrations in the third quarter (Jul to Sep) between 2021 and 2022 were lower than the previous period. New registrations in 2022 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep) were the lowest since 1981.

Periods of low new registrations typically correspond to economic recessions. Usually, after each low, the number steadily increases until the next recession. However, recent trends have also been affected by issues in the semi-conductor supply chain.

Although the number of new registrations can vary considerably each year, the total licensed stock varies much more slowly since there are many more vehicles that remain licensed over the year.

The majority of new registrations are cars. The full breakdown of body type is presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Vehicles registered for the first time in the third quarter (Jul to Sep) by body type, United Kingdom, 2021 and 2022 (VEH0150)

Body type	2022 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep): New registrations (thousands)	2021 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep): New registrations (thousands)	New registrations (year on year percentage change)
Cars	417	414	+0.8%
Light goods vehicles (LGVs)	71	78	-8.6%
Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)	12	9	+22.9%
Motorcycles	34	37	-8.1%
Buses and coaches	1	1	-23.4%
Other vehicles	15	14	+11.5%
Total	551	554	-0.5%

Monthly seasonality

When DVLA issues a new registration plate series, there is usually a peak in new vehicle registrations (Table 3). For example, the recent issue of the ‘72’ plate is for vehicles registered from the beginning of September 2022 to end of February 2023.

Up to 1998, new registration plates were issued once a year in August. Since 1999, new plates have been issued twice a year, in March and September.

Table 3: Vehicles registered for the first time by month, United Kingdom, October 2021 to September 2022 (VEH0150)

Date	New registrations (thousands)
October 2021	156
November 2021	170
December 2021	155
January 2022	150
February 2022	91
March 2022	320
April 2022	166
May 2022	172
June 2022	194
July 2022	156
August 2022	106
September 2022	289

New car registrations by fuel type

The fuel types presented in these statistics are explained in the notes and definitions, and Figure 1 shows how the main fuel types used in the UK are related.

Figure 1: Diagram showing key properties of the main fuel types

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), new car registrations in the UK (VEH1153a), comprised of:

• 209,000 petrol cars (50%)
• 33,000 diesel cars (8%)
• 84,000 petrol HEV cars (20%)
• 7,000 diesel HEV cars (2%)
• 22,000 petrol PHEV cars (5%)
• 500 diesel PHEV cars (0.1%)
• 60,000 battery electric (BEV) cars (14%)
• 700 using other fuel types (0.2%)

Chart 2: Cars registered for the first time by fuel type, including annual and five year change, United Kingdom, 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) (VEH1153a)

Compared to 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September), the number of new car registrations with the fuel type:

• petrol decreased by 4%
• diesel decreased by 10%
• HEV increased by 17%
• PHEV decreased by 22%
• BEV increased by 18%

Looking at the trends over 5 years, compared to 2017 Quarter 3 (July to September), the number of new car registrations with the fuel type:

• petrol decreased by 42%
• diesel decreased by 88%
• HEV increased by 309% (around 4 times higher)
• PHEV increased by 143% (around 2.5 times higher)
• BEV increased by 1,624% (around 17 times higher)

New electric vehicle registrations

Plug-in vehicles

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), 89,000 plug-in vehicles (PiVs) were registered for the first time in the UK, an increase of 5% on 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September) and 45% on 2020 Quarter 3 (July to September). (VEH1153a)

PiVs accounted for 17% of all UK new road using vehicle registrations in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), up from 16% in 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September), and up from 8% in 2020 Quarter 3 (July to September).

Chart 3: Plug-in vehicles (PiVs) registered for the first time in the third quarter (July to September) by fuel type, United Kingdom, 2015 to 2022 (VEH0181a)

Chart 3 shows the number of new PiV registrations in the third quarter (July to September) since 2015.

Between 2014 and 2018, the most common fuel type for new PiV registrations in the third quarter (July to September) was PHEVs, accounting for between 49% and 67% of all new PiV registrations. Since 2019, BEVs have accounted for the majority of new PiV registrations.

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), BEVs accounted for 74% of new PiV registrations, with PHEVs accounting for 25% and range extended electric vehicles (REEVs) accounting for 1%.

Table 4: Plug-in vehicles (PiVs) registered for the first time by body type, with previous year and total new registrations comparison, United Kingdom, 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) (VEH1153a)

Body type	2022 Quarter 3 (July to September): New registrations	2021 Quarter 3 (July to September): New registrations	Year on year percentage change	2022 Quarter 3 (July to September): Proportion of all new road using vehicle registrations that are PiVs
Cars	82,881	79,914	+4%	19.9%
Light goods vehicles	3,730	2,688	+39%	5.2%
Heavy goods vehicles	255	28	+811%	2.3%
Motorcycles	1,738	1,779	-2%	5.1%
Buses and coaches	96	119	-19%	10.7%
Other vehicles	534	394	+36%	38.9%
Total	89,234	84,922	+5%	16.6%

Common plug-in generic models

Generic model is a grouping of models to help compare models on the road.

Manufacturers vary in their approach on how many model versions they give a particular range of vehicles. For example, there are 3 model versions for Tesla Model 3, but there are over 800 model versions for Ford Fiesta.

In 2022 Quarter 3 (Jul to Sep), the most common generic model of plug-in vehicle registered for the first time in the UK was Tesla Model Y with 8,600 vehicles, followed by Kia Niro with 2,900 vehicles, and Nissan Leaf with 2,400 vehicles. (VEH0181b)

Chart 4: Top 25 generic models for plug-in vehicles (PiVs) registered for the first time by fuel type, United Kingdom, 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) (VEH0181b)

Chart 4 shows the top 25 generic models registered for the first time in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) for the UK. These popular models accounted for 56% of all new plug-in vehicle registrations, with the majority being BEV models.

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), every top 25 generic model was a car. For other body types, the most common generic model of plug-in:

• light goods vehicle was Vauxhall Vivaro with 777 vehicles
• heavy goods vehicle was Ford Transit with 151 vehicles
• bus and coach was Byd Enviro with 63 vehicles
• other vehicle was LEVC TX (taxi) with 500 vehicles

Related statistics on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

The department publishes statistics on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including publicly available devices and grants provided by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

Low emission vehicles

Comparing plug-in vehicle and ultra low emission vehicle statistics

There is considerable overlap between ULEVs and PiVs, since many ULEVs are based on plug-in technology. This means that although both measures are very similar at present, care should be taken when choosing which statistic is appropriate to use.

Figure 2 shows the overlap between common terms used in this release to describe “electric vehicles”, along with some common models found in those categories. Note that the size of the area does not accurately reflect how many vehicles lie within that region.

Figure 2: Venn diagram to show the overlap of the terms plug-in vehicle (PiV), ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV), and zero emission vehicle (ZEV) in relation to electric vehicles

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), 88,000 ULEVs were registered for the first time in the UK, an increase of 5% on 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September). ULEVs accounted for 16% of all UK new vehicle registrations in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), up from 15% in 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September). (VEH0171a and VEH0150)

Zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) are a sub-set of ultra low emission vehicles, currently only including:

• battery electric vehicles (BEVs)
• fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs, sometimes referred to as hydrogen powered)

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), 66,000 ZEVs were registered for the first time in the UK, which were virtually all BEVs with only 3 registrations of FCEVs.

Carbon (CO2) emissions for new vehicle registrations

The history of measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for cars and vans in the UK is complex and care should be taken when interpreting these alongside the notes and definitions.

Measures of CO2 emissions

WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure): The current laboratory test used for cars and vans, designed to be more representative of real-world driving emissions than the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) that was used prior to 2018.

e-NEDC (estimated NEDC or NEDC correlated): Calculated using the results from a WLTP test via the CO2MPAS tool developed by the European Commission.

Average emissions for new cars

In the UK, the average CO2 emissions for cars registered for the first time in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) was 117.4 grams per kilometre (g/km) using the WLTP measure, down 1% compared with 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September). (VEH0156)

Chart 5: Average CO2 emissions for cars registered for the first time, measured under WLTP, quarterly, United Kingdom, 2019 Quarter 3 (July to September) to 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), grams per kilometre (g/km) (VEH0156)

Recent decreases have been affected by a notable shift towards registering new zero emission (ZEV) cars from late 2020 onwards. The lowest quarterly value of 103.9 g/km was observed in 2021 Quarter 4 (October to December), which coincided with the highest quarterly value (19.3%) of new car registrations being zero emission. (VEH1153)

Chart 5 shows the recent trends in average CO2 emissions for cars registered for the first time in the UK. Since 2019 Quarter 3 (July to September), the average emissions steadily fell (year on year) using the WLTP measure. Between 2019 Quarter 3 (July to September) and 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), average CO2 emissions for new cars fell by 25%, from 150.7 g/km to 113.7 g/km.

Average emissions for new light goods vehicles

In the UK, the average CO2 emissions for light goods vehicles registered for the first time in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) was 194.9g/km using the WLTP measure, down 3% compared with 2021 Quarter 3 (July to September) (VEH0156).

Licensed vehicles: overview

At the end of September 2022, there were 40.8 million licensed vehicles in the UK, which was a 0.7% increase compared to the end of September 2021, and a 3.1% increase compared to the end of September 2020. (VEH0101a)

Cars make up the majority of licensed vehicles. Table 5 shows the number of licensed vehicles by body type in the United Kingdom at the end of September 2022.

Table 5: Licensed vehicles by body type, including 12-month change in licensed vehicles and vehicles with a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN), United Kingdom, the end of September 2022 (VEH0101)

Body type	Number of licensed vehicles (thousands)	12-month change in licensed vehicles (thousands)	12-month change in vehicles with a SORN (thousands)
Cars	33,155	+136	+88
Light goods vehicles	4,634	+99	+47
Heavy goods vehicles	540	+9	+16
Motorcycles	1,458	+28	+57
Buses and coaches	145	-2	+1
Other vehicles	841	+17	+14
Total	40,772	+287	+224

At the end of September 2022, there were year on year increases for all body types except buses and coaches, with the number of light goods vehicles increasing the most (+2.2%) and buses and coaches declining by 1.1%. (Table 6)

Table 6: Annual and 2-year percentage change in licensed vehicles by body type, United Kingdom, the end of September 2022 (VEH0101)

Body type	Annual change in licensed vehicles	2-year change in licensed vehicles
Cars	+0.4%	+0.9%
Light goods vehicles	+2.2%	+6.7%
Heavy goods vehicles	+1.8%	+6.2%
Motorcycles	+2.0%	+5.4%
Buses and coaches	-1.1%	+0.5%
Other vehicles	+2.0%	+4.3%
Total	+0.7%	+1.8%

Licensed electric vehicles

Since the majority of electric vehicles have been registered in the last decade, a low of proportion of these vehicles are no longer roadworthy and consequently there is a close relationship in the statistics between:

• total new EV registrations since 2010
• licensed stock of electric vehicles

However, the number of licensed electric vehicles has started to grow more slowly than the total number of new registrations. This is a result of these vehicles leaving the road through a variety of routes, such as:

• receiving a SORN
• being written off or scrapped
• being exported from the UK

Between the end of September 2021 and the end of September 2022, there were 370,000 new UK registrations of plug-in vehicles, however the number of licensed plug-in vehicles in the UK only increased by 352,000.

We advise against adding up new electric vehicle registrations as a proxy for electric vehicles on the road.

Plug-in vehicles

At the end of September 2022, there were 1,003,000 licensed plug-in vehicles (PiVs) in the UK. This was an increase of 54% compared to the end of September 2021, when there were 651,000. (VEH0141a)

Chart 6: Proportion of licensed plug-in vehicles by body type and fuel type, United Kingdom, the end of September 2022 (VEH0141a)

As shown in Chart 6, out of the total figure of 1,003,000:

• 548,000 were BEV cars (55%)
• 381,000 were PHEV cars (38%)
• 39,000 were BEV light goods vehicles (4%)
• 13,000 were BEV motorcycles (1%)
• 10,000 were REEV cars (1%)
• 7,000 were REEV other vehicles (1%)
• 6,000 were other remaining categories (1%)

Ultra low emission

At the end of September 2022, there were 991,000 licensed ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) in the UK. This was an increase of 54% compared to the end of September 2021, when there were 644,000. (VEH0133a)

The majority of ULEVs licensed at the end of September 2022 were either BEVs (61%) or PHEVs (37%). A small proportion were range extended electric vehicles (2%), currently only available in a small selection of models.

Car makes and models

Common car makes

In 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), the top 3 makes for new registrations in the UK (Chart 7) were:

• Volkswagen (8.9%)
• Ford (8.3%)
• Toyota (7.9%)

For total licensed stock at the end of September 2022 (Chart 8), the top 3 makes in the UK were different to new registrations, namely:

• Ford (12.1%)
• Vauxhall (8.9%)
• Volkswagen (8.8%)

Chart 7: Top 10 makes for cars registered for the first time, United Kingdom, 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) (df_VEH0160)

Chart 8: Top 10 makes for licensed cars, United Kingdom, the end of September 2022 (df_VEH0120)

Common car generic models

Nissan Qashqai was the most common generic model for new car registrations in 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September), with 12,800 registrations, followed by Toyota Yaris with 9,600 registrations and Ford Puma with 9,300 registrations (Chart 9). (df_VEH0160)

At the end of September 2022, the most common licensed car was Ford Fiesta with 1.46 million licensed, followed by Ford Focus with 1.07 million, and Volkswagen Golf with 1.02 million (Chart 9).

Chart 9: Top 10 generic models for cars registered for the first time during 2022 Quarter 3 (July to September) and for those licensed at the end of September 2022, United Kingdom (df_VEH0120 and df_VEH0160)

Background notes

About these figures

Almost all the statistics in the vehicle licensing statistics series are derived by Department for Transport statisticians from extracts of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) vehicle database. The main purpose of the database is to administer vehicle registration and licensing records in the United Kingdom.

For further information about the data used in this release, please see our guidance page which contains:

• detailed notes and definitions
• a note on users and uses of these statistics

There is also a Statement of Administrative Sources for the DVLA vehicles database.

Some quarterly tables have not been updated as they are under review (see the 2021 annual release).

In this release, numbers may not add up to totals and percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Geographic coverage

In July 2014, vehicle and registration services for Northern Ireland were centralised at DVLA, where these services for Great Britain were already administered. This created a single vehicle register for the United Kingdom, in place of separate registers for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. From this time, statistics can be provided for both Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

This statistical release will focus on the United Kingdom for recent trends in vehicles but use data for Great Britain to review long term trends.

In this release we have added the geographic breakdown by country to our statistical tables (with the exception of make and model data). This means statistics are now also published separately for:

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

Strength and weaknesses of the data

The databases used for these statistics can be regarded as being virtually complete in terms of the number of vehicles registered for the first time, licensed vehicles, and vehicles with a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification). However, there may be some errors in some of the specific details of individual vehicles.

The Department for Transport has previously estimated that under 2% of the vehicle records have an inaccuracy in one of the variables used for the statistics published. Other factors to consider in interpreting these statistics include:

• changes in legislation
• seasonal variation which affects some vehicle types
• foreign registered vehicles may also use UK roads without being registered with DVLA
• Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) evasion

Most of these factors will only have a marginal effect for most uses of the data.

National Statistics

These statistics were designated as National Statistics in April 2012.

National Statistics are produced to the high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in the pre-release access list.

Next release

Vehicle licensing statistics are published quarterly. The next release is due in May 2022, which will cover the full annual data up to the end of December 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2022.

The quarterly releases (typically published in July, September, and December) have a reduced number of tables and commentary compared to the annual publication (typically published in May).

Any updates to these plans will be advertised via the DfT statistical publications schedule.

To hear more about DfT statistics publications as they are released, please follow us on Twitter.

Related sources of information

There are more recent data than published here available from various industry bodies covering most vehicle sales.

For car and van data, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) publish monthly shortly after the month-end, in advance of the publication of DfT’s detailed official statistics. This can be useful to look at the latest trends in vehicle registrations. Although there are slight differences in coverage of the SMMT data, the volumes and trends published by SMMT are generally consistent with DfT published data.

Instructions for printing and saving

Depending on which browser you use and the type of device you use (such as a mobile or laptop) these instructions may vary.

Tablets and mobile devices normally have the option to “find in text” and “print or save” in their sharing or quick options menu of their browser, but this will vary by device model.

How to search

Select Ctrl and F on a Windows laptop or Command and F on a Mac.

This will open a search box in the top right-hand corner of the page. Type the word you are looking for in the search bar and press enter.

Your browser will highlight the word, usually in yellow, wherever it appears on the page. Press enter to move to the next place it appears.

Contact details

Vehicles statistics

Email vehicles.stats@dft.gov.uk

Public enquiries 020 7944 3077

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878