National statistics

International road freight statistics: 2021

Published 13 October 2022

About this release

This statistical release summarises the latest statistics on the international activity of UK -registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) up to 2021. It covers the amount and type of goods carried by UK-registered HGVs, as well as their origin and destination and the distance they travelled. The information is derived from continuous surveys of businesses operating road goods vehicles.

The report also summarises the latest information from Eurostat and the Traffic Commissioners from Great Britain on foreign-registered HGVs travelling to and from the UK, cabotage, and goods vehicle operator licenses.

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Notes about the data: Due to rounding, totals may not appear to equal the sum of their parts.

Definition

HGV: A lorry with a plated weight of 3.5 tonnes or more (the plated weight is the maximum permissible weight of a vehicle when loaded).

Road freight activity by HGVs transporting freight internationally has decreased over 2021.

Infographic 1: Total amount of goods lifted, and goods moved internationally by UK-registered HGVs in 2021, broken down into imports and exports. Table RFS0201

UK registered HGVs transporting freight internationally in 2021 lifted a total of 5.2 million tonnes, this is a decrease of 20% compared to 2020 (6.6 million tonnes) and 36% below the average lifted from 2015 to 2019 (8.1 million tonnes).

Definition

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

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

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and European Union (EU) exit on international road freight

These statistics cover a period where some measures were in place to limit the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 has had a wide impact on UK society and economic activity since March 2020 and figures should be considered within this context.

Infographic 2: 2021 COVID-19 measures

Infographic 2 illustrates COVID-19 measures between January 2021 and December 2021. The EU exit transition period ended on 31 December 2020. On 6 January, there was a third lockdown in England with restrictions eased between March and July. The Delta variant was identified in England between May and June. Finally, on 8 December some restrictions were implemented following the spread of the Omicron variant.

Chart 1: Goods lifted by UK-registered HGVs, shown with typical variation from the average, quarterly between 2015 and 2021

Chart 1 illustrates the amount of goods lifted internationally by UK-registered HGVs between 2015 and 2021, as well as the variance from the 2015 to 2019 average.

The average amount of goods lifted between 2015 and 2019 was 2.0 million tonnes. The typical variation from this figure is shown by the standard deviation, which at 0.2 million tonnes indicates the amount of goods lifted has been between 1.8 and 2.2 million (0.2 million tonnes higher or lower than the 2.0 million tonnes average) over this 5-year period.

In 2021 quarter 1 (January to March) following the end of the EU transition period and the introduction of a third national lockdown, the number of goods lifted fell below 2 standard deviations from the average. The amount of goods lifted has remained below 2 standard deviations from the 2015 to 2019 average throughout the remainder of 2021, despite the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Country of trade

Note

Some HGV trips may be part of a multi-modal or multi-stage journey. The final origin or destination of the HGV road element may therefore not be the ultimate origin or destination of the goods.

Infographic 3: Top 5 countries from which UK-registered vehicles imported or exported goods, 2021 Tables RFS0202 and RFS0203

The top 5 countries for exports and imports have remained relatively constant over time, however exports to Germany has decreased from 1.4 million tonnes in 2000 to 0.19 million tonnes in 2021. The same trend has been seen for imports, with a decrease from 1.5 million tonnes to 0.27 in 2021.

In 2021, 2.4 million tonnes of goods were exported from the UK by UK-registered vehicles. Of which 89% (2.2 million tonnes) were unloaded in one of the five following countries:

• France, 0.88 million tonnes (36%)
• Ireland, 0.46 million tonnes (19%)
• Belgium, 0.45 million tonnes (19%)
• Netherlands, 0.19 million tonnes (8%)
• Germany, 0.19 million tonnes (8%)

In 2021, 2.8 million tonnes of goods were imported to the UK by UK-registered vehicles. Of which 88% (2.5 million tonnes) were loaded in one of the five following countries:

• Belgium, 0.84 million tonnes (30%)
• France, 0.83 million tonnes (29%)
• Netherlands, 0.33 million tonnes (12%)
• Germany, 0.27 million tonnes (10%)
• Ireland, 0.21 million tonnes (8%)

Commodities lifted by UK-registered HGVs

Definitions:

Commodity: goods are classified into commodity types and sub-categories by the ‘standard goods classification for transport statistics 2007’ NST2007.

Groupage: In this report, groupage refers to mixed consignments where no single commodity makes up 75% or more of the consignment weight.

Dangerous goods: Dangerous goods consist of consignments falling under the following categories: flammable liquids, gases, corrosive substance, flammable solids, oxidisers and organic peroxides, toxic and infectious substance, radioactive materials, explosives and miscellaneous substances.

Infographic 4: Top 5 commodity types lifted by UK-registered HGVs 2021 Table RFS0206

In 2021, the most common commodity exported from the UK by UK-registered vehicles was food products, including beverages and tobacco, accounting for 0.51 million tonnes (21% of goods exported).

Similarly, the most common commodity imported into the UK by UK-registered vehicles was also food products, including beverages and tobacco. Food products made up a larger share of imports than exports accounting for 0.97 million tonnes (35% of goods imported).

For 2021, 0.12 million tonnes of dangerous goods (4.8%) were exported from the UK by UK-registered vehicles. The amount of dangerous goods imported into the UK by UK-registered HGVs was lower at 0.05 million tonnes (1.9%).

Note:

Whether goods are deemed to be dangerous can be open to interpretation. Survey responses are validated to ensure results are as consistent as possible, but these results will still rely on some subjective interpretation by respondents.

Goods vehicle operator licences

Note:

UK hauliers must obtain a Standard International Operator’s Licence to carry goods for others within the UK and on international journeys. This applies to all vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating above 3.5 tonnes, though not all firms with a standard international licence will necessarily do international trips.

In 2020 to 2021:

There were 8,932 firms using an HGV Standard International (SI) Operator Licence in Great Britain - an 8% increase from 2019 to 2020 (8,281 licenses) but a 5% decrease from 2010 to 2011 (9,449 licenses).

There were 84,260 vehicles covered by SI licenses - a 5% increase from 2019 to 2020 (80,200 vehicles) and a 7% increase from 2010 to 2011 (79,010 vehicles).

Chart 2: Standard International Licences in issue, Great Britain, 2010 to 2021

Source: Traffic Commissioners: annual report 2020 to 2021

Road haulage by foreign-registered HGVs in the UK

Note:

Detailed statistics on the activity of foreign-registered HGVs can be obtained from the Eurostat Transport Database.

The information in this section is up to the year 2020. Data for 2021 were not available at the time of producing this publication.

Foreign-registered HGVs transporting freight to and from the UK in 2020 lifted 35.9 million tonnes, this is a 2% decrease compared to 2019 (36.4 million tonnes) and 3% below the average tonnes lifted from 2015 to 2019 (37 million tonnes).

Of which:

13.3 million tonnes were exported from the UK by foreign-registered HGVs, a 7% decrease compared to 2019 (14.3 million tonnes) and 6% below the average tonnes lifted from 2015 to 2019 (14.2 million tonnes).

22.6 million tonnes were imported to the UK by foreign-registered HGVs, a 2% increase compared to 2019 (22.2 million tonnes) but 1% below the average tonnes lifted from 2015 to 2019 (22.8 million tonnes).

Infographic 5: Top 5 countries from which foreign-registered vehicles imported or exported goods to or from the UK, ten-year comparison (2010 to 2020) Tables RFS0208 and RFS0209

The amount of goods imported or exported by foreign-registered vehicles to or from the UK has followed an upward trend since 2010, though there has been greater volatility over the last 4 years.

Polish-registered vehicles exporting from the UK have increased from 25% of total foreign exports in 2010 to 35% in 2020 and Romanian-registered vehicles increased from 1% to 10%.

For imports to the UK, Polish-registered vehicles have increased from 23% in 2010 to 37% in 2020. Romanian-registered vehicles have increased from 2% to 8%.

Cabotage within the UK by foreign-registered HGVs in 2020

Definitions:

Cabotage: measured in tonne kilometres, refers to road haulage solely within one country by a vehicle registered in another country. For example, when a vehicle registered in another country transports goods from one part of the UK to another, this is cabotage.

Cabotage penetration rate: This measures the significance of cabotage within a country’s road freight market, calculated as the share of all HGV activity within the country.

In 2020, the overall level of cabotage goods moved in the UK was 1.4 billion tonne kilometres, 1% of all HGV activity within the UK (137.8 billion tonne kilometres).

The top 3 countries carrying out cabotage in the UK accounted for 53% (729 million tonne kilometres) or all cabotage. Which were:

• Poland, 275 million tonne kilometres (20%)
• Romania, 241 million tonne kilometres (18%)
• Ireland, 213 million tonne kilometres (16%)

In 2020, the level of cabotage within the UK was 1.0%, this was below the EU average penetration rate of 4.3%. The highest penetration rate in 2020 was for Germany at 9.0%.

Chart 3: Cabotage penetration rates, 2020 Table RFS0216

Cabotage within the EU by UK-registered HGVs in 2021

UK HGVs undertook a total of 240 million tonne kilometres of cabotage within the EU in 2021, this is an increase of 2% compared to 2020 (236 million tonne kilometres) but 7% below the average amount of cabotage from 2015 to 2019 (257 million tonne kilometres).

Chart 4: Cabotage by UK-registered HGVs, 2011 to 2021 Table RFS0131

Note:

Cabotage by UK vehicles in the EU is measured using data from the UK Department for Transport. This differs from the measure of cabotage within the UK by foreign vehicles which is calculated using data from Eurostat.

Data source and more information

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

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

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

Other statistics related to freight and trade are available.

Road goods vehicles travelling to Europe: 2021
ONS UK trade statistical bulletins
Port freight annual statistics: 2020
Rail freight statistics
Aviation statistics

Strengths and weaknesses of data

The figures in this release are derived from the International Road Haulage Survey (IRHS) which collects information on HGVs registered in Great Britain making international trips. Excluded from the survey are HGVs registered in Northern Ireland, foreign-registered vehicles and vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or less gross vehicle weight (Light Goods Vehicles).

The IRHS is a continuous survey which collects a range of information on freight movements from a sample of approximately 3,600 firms holding a standard international HGV licence. These licences are issued by the eight regional Traffic Commissioner Offices (TCO) and data are provided to the Department for Transport (DfT) by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). In 2021, the survey was completed by 83% of recipients, of which 23% completed the survey with information on international trips; 39% indicated they were still conducting international work but not during the survey period and 21% of firms had ceased trading or completed domestic work only.

IRHS survey figures are scaled up to be representative of the total volume of HGV traffic travelling from GB to mainland Europe using ferry routes and the Channel Tunnel. This information is collected from returns provided by the roll-on roll-off ferry operators (RoRo), giving the number of powered vehicles and unaccompanied trailers carried on each route from GB to mainland Europe, and from monthly information supplied by Eurotunnel.

The use of RoRo data to weight the IRHS data may introduce a small bias for data on imports because RoRo information is collected on outward traffic only. This will affect the weighting of vehicles which return to the UK using a route different than that for the outward journey. RoRo data is also only able to disaggregate between UK and foreign vehicles. An assumption is therefore made on the proportion of UK vehicles which are registered in Northern Ireland to obtain an estimate of GB registered vehicles.

This release and its contents partly rely on the use of administrative data from DVLA and DVSA. DfT have assessed the impact of this on the quality of these statistics, a report on which can be found in the Quality assurance of administrative data sources: Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency and Quality assurance of administrative data sources: Driver Vehicle Standards Agency.

National Statistics

These statistics are designated as National Statistics. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Code of Practice for Statistics plays an essential role in ensuring that statistics published by government inspire the public confidence through demonstrating trustworthiness and providing high-quality statistics.

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

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Contact details

Road freight statistics

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