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NTS 2024: Trips by purpose, age, mode and sex

Published 27 August 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2024/nts-2024-trips-by-purpose-age-mode-and-sex

Main findings

  • The most common trip purpose in 2024 was for shopping with 167 trips per person. The proportion of trips made for shopping tends to increase with age, with those aged 70 and over making an average of 263 trips.
  • Commuting was the second most common trip purpose, but represented the longest distance travelled with 1,007 miles per person.
  • Males made 4% fewer trips (904 trips per person) than females (939 trips per person) but travelled 16% further (6,549 miles per person by males, as opposed to 5,633 miles per person by females).

Chart 32: Trips per person per year by selected purposes: England, 2002 to 2024 (NTS0403)

Trips by trip purpose

  • The most common trip purpose in 2024 was shopping with 167 trips per person, similar to 2023 (169 trips per person), but a decrease of 8% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
  • Commuting was the second most common trip purpose in 2024 with 111 trips per person, a decrease of 5% compared to 2023 and a decrease of 21% compared to 2019. This may suggest a shift towards working from home and hybrid working during this time.
  • Just walk was the third most common trip purpose in 2024 with 85 trips per person, this was similar to 2023 (86 trips per person) but 40% higher than in 2019.
  • During 2024, average trips for business, personal business and day trips[footnote 1] increased compared to 2023. Average trips for education and visiting friends at private home remained similar to 2023.

Chart 33: Miles travelled per person per year by selected purposes: England, 2002 to 2024 (NTS0403)

Distance travelled by trip purpose

  • The longest distance travelled was for commuting with 1,007 miles per person in 2024, a decrease of 5% compared to 2023. This was 21% less than 2019.
  • The second largest distance travelled on average was for the purpose of visiting friends at home, with 892 miles per person in 2024, similar to 2023 and 2019.
  • The third longest distance travelled was for shopping with 620 miles per person in 2024, this was similar to 2023, but an 11% decrease compared to 2019.
  • Like with average number of trips, just walk and day trips remained an increase in average distance travelled compared to 2019.

Chart 34: Average trips made, and miles travelled per person per year by sex: England, 2024 (NTS0601)

Trips and distance travelled by sex

In 2024, males made 4% fewer trips (904 trips per person) than females (939 trips per person) but travelled 16% further (6,549 miles per person by males, as opposed to 5,633 miles per person by females).

This partly reflects differences in the type of trips made and the mode of travel used by males compared to females in 2024, with males making:

  • fewer trips but travelling longer distances by car (15% more miles on average)
  • more trips and travelling further by cycling (350% more miles on average, or over 4 times more)
  • shorter and fewer trips by walking (4% less miles on average)

Females made more shopping trips, which tend to be relatively short, whereas males made more commuting and business trips which tend to be longer.

Chart 35: Average trips by sex, age and selected main modes: England, 2002 to 2024 (NTS0601)

Walking

Overall walking trip trends by females have fluctuated over the years but have remained fairly stable for age groups between 0 and 29. For age groups 30 and over, walking trips by females have seen an overall increase in recent years. Walking trip trends by males have remained stable over the years for all age groups. In 2024:

  • for females, those aged 30 to 39 made the most walking trips with 355 trips per person
  • for males, those aged 60 to 69 made the most walking trips with 276 trips per person

Car driver

For the age groups between 17 and 49, trends in car driver trips by females have declined over the years, and for age groups 50 and over increased. Males aged 17 to 69 have seen a decrease in car driver trips over the years, and the trend has slightly increased for males aged 70 and over. In 2024:

  • males aged 21 and over and females aged 30 and over made most of their trips as a car driver
  • for females, those aged 40 to 49 made the most car driver trips with 570 trips per person
  • for males, those aged 50 to 59 made the most car driver trips with 584 trips per person

Car passenger

Car passenger trips made by females have declined over the years for all age groups apart from those aged 70 and over where trends have been relatively stable. Males have seen a decline in car passenger trips for age groups between 0 and 20, and all other age groups have seen trends that are relatively stable. In 2024, for both males and females, those aged 0 to 16 made the most car passenger trips with 426 and 458 trips per person respectively.

Bus

For all age groups, females have shown a decline in bus trip trends over the years, whereas trends by males have been more stable. In 2024, for both males and females, those aged 17 to 20 made the most bus trips with 94 and 81 trips per person respectively.

Surface rail

Surface rail trip trends have seen a gradual increase over the years by all age groups 17 and over, which follow a similar pattern for both males and females. In 2024:

  • both males and females aged 21 to 29 made the most surface rail trips amongst their sex with 40 trips per person and 38 trips per person respectively

Chart 36: Average trips by sex, age and selected purposes: England, 2002 to 2024 (NTS0611)

Shopping

Shopping trip trends have declined over the years for all age groups by males and females up to the age of 69, above which trends have remained stable until more recent years where there has also been a decline (more by males than by females). In 2024:

  • shopping was the most common journey purpose recorded by females aged 30 and over and by males aged 50 and over
  • for females, those aged 60 to 69 and for males, those aged 70 and over made the most shopping trips with 256 and 285 trips per person respectively

Commuting

Males and females have shown a decline in commuting trips over the years for age groups between 17 and 59, above which the trend is relatively stable, at low average levels. In 2024:

  • commuting was the most common journey purpose recorded by males between the age groups of 21 to 49
  • for females, those aged 21 to 29 and for males, those aged 30 to 39 made the most commuting trips with 191 and 228 trips per person respectively

Education

Education trips have fluctuated over the years but have remained fairly stable for both males and females. In 2024:

  • for both males and females, those aged 0 to 16 made most of their trips for education purposes with 270 and 262 trips per person respectively
  • the highest number of escort education trips were made by those aged 40 to 49, more by females than males (189 and 103 trips per person respectively)

Visiting friends at private home

Trips to visit friends at private home have declined over the years for both males and females of all ages up to 59, and after this age have remained stable. In 2024, for both males and females, those aged 60 to 69 made the most trips for visiting friends at private home, with 85 and 108 trips per person respectively.

Personal business

Personal business trips have declined slightly over the years for both males and females of all age groups. In 2024, for males, those aged 70 and over and for females, those aged 60 to 69 made the most trips for personal business, a category which includes trips for medical consultations or treatment, with 126 and 129 trips per person respectively.

Just walk

Just walk trips have increased in recent years by all age groups for both males and females. In 2024:

  • for males, those aged 60 to 69 made more just walk trips than other age groups with 134 trips per person
  • for females, those aged 50 to 59 made more just walk trips than other age groups with 140 trips per person

Background information

The 2024 National Travel Survey (NTS) is the latest in a series of household surveys of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a seven-day travel diary. The NTS is part of a continuous survey that began in 1988, following ad-hoc surveys from the 1960s, which enables analysis of patterns and trends.

Some key uses of the data include describing patterns, for example how different groups of people travel, monitoring trends in travel, including sustainable modes; assessing the potential equality impacts of different groups; and contributing to the evaluation of policies.

We always welcome feedback to help ensure that the survey meets the needs of users, and any feedback provided will help inform the future design and development of the survey. If you have any feedback, please email National Travel Survey statistics.

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are labelled ‘Accredited Official Statistics’.

Further information is available, including:

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  1. Day trips include trips for pleasure (not otherwise classified as social or entertainment) within a single day and just walk trips include walking trips for pleasure or exercise along public highways, including taking the dog for a walk and jogging. ↩

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