NTS 2025: Factsheet
Updated 10 September 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2025/nts-2025-factsheet
Travel trends since the 2002
The introduction of the digital travel diary in 2025 is associated with lower recorded rates for some types of trips. This has resulted in a fall in the overall average number of trips recorded per person, with the most notable impacts on short walks, trips by car, and trips made for shopping, personal business and leisure purposes. Statistics based on interview questions are unaffected. More details can be found in the NTS background quality report and technical report for 2025.
Chart 1: Trends in trips taken, England (2002 to 2025) (NTS0101)
People made 841 trips on average in 2025 (or 16 trips per week). This was a decrease of 9% compared to 2024 (922 trips on average), and a decrease of 12% compared to 2019 (953 trips on average).
Chart 2: Trends in miles travelled, England (2002 to 2025) (NTS0101)
People travelled 5,605 miles on average in 2025. This was a decrease of 8% compared to 2024 (6,082 miles on average), and a decrease of 14% compared to 2019 (6,500 miles on average).
Chart 3: Trends in hours spent travelling, England (2002 to 2025) (NTS0101)
People spent 342 hours on average travelling in 2025. This was a decrease of 6% compared to 2024 (362 hours on average), and a decrease of 8% compared to 2019 (370 hours on average).
How we travelled
Chart 4: Proportion of trips and distance by mode, England (2025) (NTS0303)
| Measure | Car or van | Walk | Local bus | Other | Pedal cycle | Surface rail | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trip | 58% | 29% | 5% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 100% |
| Distance | 76% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 1% | 10% | 100% |
Rows may not sum to 100% due to rounding
Cars remained the most popular mode of travel, making up 58% of all trips in 2025 and 76% of all miles travelled. In 2025, 29% of all trips were made by walking.
Why we travelled
Chart 5: Top 3 most common trip purposes, England (2025) (NTS0403)
| Purpose | Percentage of trips |
|---|---|
| Shopping | 17% |
| Commuting | 13% |
| Just walk | 9% |
Percentages have been rounded to the closest whole number
The most common trip purpose in 2025 was shopping (17%). Trips for the purpose of commuting represented 13% of average trips in this year. ‘Just walk’ was the third most common trip purpose in 2025, accounting for 9% of all trips. These 3 were also the most popular purposes in each of the past 5 years.
Cycling
Chart 6: Trends in cycling trips taken, England (2002 to 2025) (NTS0303)
People made 15 cycling trips on average in 2025. This was similar to 2024, and slightly lower than in 2019 (16 cycling trips).
Chart 7: Trends in miles travelled by pedal cycle, England (2002 to 2025) (NTS0303)
People travelled an average of 57 miles by pedal cycle in 2025, slightly more than 2019 (54 miles per person).
Chart 8: Percentage of people with access to a pedal cycle, by age, England (2025) (NTS0608)
| Age | Percentage of individuals who own or have access to a pedal cycle |
|---|---|
| 5 to 10 | 76% |
| 11 to 16 | 65% |
| 17 to 20 | 41% |
| 21 to 29 | 27% |
| 30 to 39 | 33% |
| 40 to 49 | 45% |
| 50 to 59 | 42% |
| 60 and over | 26% |
Percentages have been rounded to the closest whole number
In 2025, people aged between 5 to 10 were most likely to own or have access to a pedal cycle (76%). People aged 60 and over were least likely to own or have access to a pedal cycle, with 26%.
Travel by sex
Chart 9: Average trips and distance per person per year, by the sex of the respondent, England (2025) (NTS0601)
| Measure | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| Trips | 827 | 853 |
| Distance | 6,060 | 5,170 |
In 2025, males made a similar average number of trips to females (827 trips per person by males compared to 853 trips per person by females) but travelled 17% further (6,060 miles per person by males, as opposed to 5,170 miles per person by females).
Chart 10: Commuting trips per person per year, by age and sex, England (2025) (NTS0611)
| Age | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| All ages | 129 | 96 |
| 0 to 16 | 3 | 3 |
| 17 to 20 | 117 | 110 |
| 21 to 29 | 238 | 170 |
| 30 to 39 | 218 | 149 |
| 40 to 49 | 215 | 156 |
| 50 to 59 | 193 | 155 |
| 60 to 69 | 103 | 83 |
| 70 and over | 14 | 8 |
In 2025, males made an average of 129 commuting trips per person (a decrease of 20% on 2019), while females made an average of 96 commuting trips per person (a decrease of 19% on 2019).
Licence holding
Chart 11: Proportion of adults holding a full car driving licence by sex, aged 17 and over, England (2025) (NTS0201)
| Sex | Proportion of full car driving licence holders |
|---|---|
| All individuals | 74% |
| Males | 79% |
| Females | 69% |
Percentages have been rounded to the closest whole number
In 2025, 74% of English residents aged 17 and over held a driving licence. Around 79% of males and 69% of females held a licence.
Car ownership
Chart 12: Household car availability, England (2025) (NTS0205)
| Household car availability | Percentage of households |
|---|---|
| No car or van | 25% |
| One car or van | 42% |
| 2 or more cars or vans | 33% |
Percentages may sum to more than 100% due to rounding
Looking at households in England, 75% owned at least one car in 2025. Around a third (33%) of households had two or more cars in 2025, 42% had one car and 25% no cars.
Trips to and from school
Chart 13: Trips to and from school by main mode and age, England (2024 and 2025) (NTS0613)
| Year and age | Walk | Car or van | Local bus | Private bus | Pedal cycle | Other transport | Surface rail | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 aged 5 to 10 | 47% | 45% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 100% |
| 2025 aged 11 to 16 | 38% | 27% | 19% | 7% | 5% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| 2024 aged 5 to 10 | 51% | 43% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 100% |
| 2024 aged 11 to 16 | 37% | 30% | 18% | 9% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 100% |
For children aged 5 to 10, 47% of trips to and from school were made by walking in 2025, down from 51% in 2024, while 45% were made by car. For children aged 11 to 16, walking remained the most common mode of travel to school in 2025 (38%), followed by car (27%) and local bus (19%).
NTS modernisation – we want your feedback
From autumn 2026, the NTS is launching a modernisation programme, which aims to review the survey’s methodology, data collection and outputs. The intention is to make the survey more flexible and scalable, reduce burden on respondents, and utilise modern technologies where appropriate.
The first stages involve capturing the views of our users and stakeholders on their use of, and need for, NTS data and statistics. We are contacting a number of known stakeholders directly, however we are keen to gather views from as wide a range of users as possible.
We want to 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 or wish to discuss this with the team, please email National Travel Survey statistics.
Background information
The 2025 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 7-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.
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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