National statistics

International road freight statistics, United Kingdom: 2022

Published 22 June 2023

About this release

This statistical release summarises the latest statistics on the activity of UK-registered Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) operating internationally during 2022.

The information is derived from surveys of businesses that operate road goods vehicles. 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 report also summarises the latest information the Traffic Commissioners from Great Britain (GB) on goods vehicle operator licences, and from Eurostat on cabotage and foreign-registered HGVs travelling to and from the UK.

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).

Headline figures

In 2022,

6.6 million tonnes

of goods were lifted by UK-registered HGVs operating internationally.

Infographic 1: Total amount of goods lifted internationally by UK-registered HGVs in 2022, broken down into imports and exports (Table RFS0201)

Infographic 2: Total amount of goods moved internationally by UK-registered HGVs in 2022, broken down into imports and exports (Table RFS0201)

Note

The previous announcement of the UK leaving the European Union (EU) and subsequent transition period, along with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting supply chain disruption, have caused higher levels of volatility in freight statistics over the past 3 years.

In 2022, UK-registered HGVs transporting freight internationally lifted a total of 6.6 million tonnes, this is an increase of 26% compared to 2021 (5.2 million tonnes) and 19% below the average from 2015 to 2019 (8.2 million tonnes).

UK-registered HGVs transporting freight internationally moved a total of 4.0 billion tonne kilometres in 2022, this is an increase of 24% compared to 2021 (3.3 billion tonne kilometres) and 24% below the average from 2015 to 2019 (5.3 billion tonne kilometres).

Definitions

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.

Long term trends

Chart 1: Long term trends in international goods lifted by UK-registered HGVs, quarterly from 2004 to 2022 (Table RFS0201)

Historically the amount of goods lifted by UK-registered HGVs has been decreasing for both imports and exports, with UK-registered HGVs usually importing more goods than exporting.

During the 2008 recession, the amount of goods lifted by UK-registered HGVs fell by 12%. As the economy recovered road freight levels returned to expected levels and again followed the decreasing trend.

In 2018, the amount of goods lifted rose by 11% possibly reflecting businesses looking to transport goods internationally before the UK’s original planned departure from the EU on the 29 March 2019.

There was larger than usual volatility from 2019 onwards coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020 and the end of the transition period for the UK leaving the EU on the 31 December 2020.

Recent variation

Chart 2: Total goods lifted internationally by UK-registered HGVs, shown with typical variation from the average, quarterly between 2015 and 2022 (Table RFS0201)

Chart 2 illustrates recent volatility of international road freight by showing the variation from the 2015 to 2019 average.

The average amount of goods lifted between 2015 and 2019 was 2.0 million tonnes per quarter. The typical variation from this figure is shown by the standard deviation, which at 0.2 million tonnes indicates the amount of goods lifted was typically 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, international road freight activity by UK-registered HGVs was low by historic standards, with the amount of goods consistently below the typical variation seen from 2015 to 2019. In 2022 there was a recovery from 2021 but activity remained below average. The amount of goods fluctuated in and out of the range of typical variation, with a high of 1.9 million tonnes in 2022 Quarter 2 (April to June) and lows of 1.5 million tonnes in Quarter 1 (January to March) and Quarter 3 (July to September).

These fluctuations may reflect ongoing challenges in the freight industry, the reduction in goods traffic over the summer holiday period and the economic effects of high inflation in 2022.

Country of trade

Infographic 3: Top 5 countries from which UK-registered vehicles imported or exported goods, 2022 (Tables RFS0202 and RFS0203)

The top 5 countries for exports and imports have remained relatively constant over the last 20 years, however exports to Germany have decreased from 1.2 million tonnes in 2001 to 0.20 million tonnes in 2022. The same trend has been seen for imports, with a decrease from 1.3 million tonnes to 0.26 in 2022.

In 2022, 3.1 million tonnes of goods were exported from the UK by UK-registered vehicles. Of which 90% (2.8 million tonnes) were unloaded in 1 of the 5 following countries:

• France, 1.08 million tonnes (35%)

• Belgium, 0.65 million tonnes (21%)

• Ireland, 0.51 million tonnes (17%)

• Netherlands, 0.35 million tonnes (11%)

• Germany, 0.20 million tonnes (6%)

In 2022, 3.5 million tonnes of goods were imported to the UK by UK-registered vehicles. Of which 90% (3.13 million tonnes) were loaded in 1 of the 5 following countries:

• Belgium, 1.11 million tonnes (32%)

• France, 1.09 million tonnes (31%)

• Netherlands, 0.42 million tonnes (12%)

• Germany, 0.26 million tonnes (7%)

• Ireland, 0.25 million tonnes (7%)

Note

The data in this publication is based only on HGV trips. Some HGV trips may be part of a multi-modal or multi-stage journey, which means that the final origin or destination of the HGV may not be the ultimate origin or destination of the goods.

Commodities lifted by UK-registered HGVs

Infographic 4: Top 5 commodity types lifted by UK-registered HGVs, 2022 (Table RFS0206)

In 2022, the most common commodity exported from the UK by UK-registered vehicles was groupage, accounting for 0.68 million tonnes (12% of goods exported).

The most common commodity imported into the UK by UK-registered vehicles was food products, including beverages and tobacco. Food products made up a larger share of imports (0.94 million tonnes, 15% of goods imported) than exports (0.45 million tonnes, 8% of goods exported).

For 2022, 0.20 million tonnes of dangerous goods (6.4% of all goods) 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 0.15 million tonnes (4.4% of all goods).

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 substances, flammable solids, oxidisers and organic peroxides, toxic and infectious substances, radioactive materials, explosives and miscellaneous substances.

Goods vehicle operator licences

In 2022:

There were 9,510 firms using an HGV Standard International (SI) Operator Licence in Great Britain, a 6% increase from 2021 (8,932 licences) and a 7% increase from 2012 (8,914 licences). The number of licences has been increasing over the past 2 years, having previously been stable since 2013.

There were 88,266 vehicles covered by SI licences, a 5% increase from 2021 (84,260 vehicles) and a 18% increase from 2012 (75,115 vehicles).

Chart 3: Standard International Licences in issue, Great Britain, 2011 to 2022

Source: Traffic Commissioners: Annual Report 2021 to 2022

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.

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. This includes the activity of vehicles registered in countries within the EU as well as countries outside the EU but belonging to the European single market.

The information in this section is up to the year 2021. Eurostat data for 2022 was not available at the time of producing this publication.

Foreign-registered HGVs transporting freight to and from the UK in 2021 lifted 30.6 million tonnes, this is a 15% decrease compared to 2020 (35.9 million tonnes) and 17% below the average tonnes lifted from 2015 to 2019 (37.0 million tonnes).

Of which:

10.3 million tonnes were exported from the UK by foreign-registered HGVs, a 23% decrease compared to 2020 (13.3 million tonnes) and 27% below the average tonnes lifted from 2015 to 2019 (14.2 million tonnes).

20.2 million tonnes were imported to the UK by foreign-registered HGVs, a 10% decrease compared to 2020 (22.6 million tonnes) and 11% 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, 10-year comparison (2011 to 2021) (Tables RFS0208 and RFS0209)

The amount of goods lifted by foreign-registered vehicles to or from the UK has followed an upward trend, though there has been greater volatility over the last 4 years and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Polish-registered vehicles exporting from the UK have increased their share from 24% of total foreign exports in 2011 to 28% in 2021 while Romanian-registered vehicles increased sharply from 2% to 10%. Poland has accounted for the largest share of foreign exports each year since they overtook Ireland in 2010.

For imports to the UK, Polish-registered vehicles also accounted for the largest share which has increased from 20% in 2011 to 26% in 2021, while Romanian-registered vehicles increased from 2% to 6%.

Cabotage within the UK by foreign-registered HGVs in 2020

Note

Data collection for domestic road freight statistics moved from a paper to online survey midway through 2021. An investigation concluded that the paper data up to June 2021 cannot be compared to the online data from July 2021.

This means that domestic road freight data cannot be combined into an overall figure for 2021, so it is not possible to estimate UK cabotage for 2021.

A detailed explanation of the methodology change and the impact on the data can be found within the domestic methodology note.

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) of all cabotage. These 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 4: Cabotage penetration rates, UK and top 5 EU countries with the highest levels of cabotage, 2020 (Table RFS0216)

Definitions

Cabotage: measured in tonne kilometres, cabotage refers to road haulage solely within 1 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: the cabotage penetration rate is defined as cabotage (in tonne kilometres) as a proportion of the sum of domestic and cabotage tonne kilometres and is a measure of the significance of cabotage within a country’s road freight market.

Note

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

Cabotage within the EU by UK-registered HGVs in 2022

UK HGVs undertook a total of 234 million tonne kilometres of cabotage within the EU in 2022, this is a decrease of 3% compared to 2021 (240 million tonne kilometres) and 9% below the average amount of cabotage from 2015 to 2019 (257 million tonne kilometres).

Chart 5: Cabotage by UK-registered HGVs, 2012 to 2022 (Table RFS0131)

Note

Cabotage by UK vehicles within the EU is measured using data from the UK’s DfT. This differs from the measure of cabotage within the UK by foreign vehicles which is calculated using data from Eurostat.

More information

Other statistics related to freight and trade are available:

• Domestic road freight statistics: 2022

• Road goods vehicles travelling to Europe: 2022

• Office for National Statistics UK trade statistical bulletins

• Port freight annual statistics: 2021

• Rail freight statistics factsheet: 2021

• Aviation statistics

Please contact road freight statistics if you have any questions about DfT road freight statistics.

Data source

Previously international road freight data was collected via paper surveys until 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.

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 2,300 firms holding a standard international HGV licence in 2022. These licences are issued by the 8 regional Traffic Commissioner Offices (TCO) and data are provided to the DfT by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). In 2022, the overall survey response rate was 97%, with 31% of respondents completing the survey with information on international trips; 32% indicating they were still conducting international work but made no international trips during their survey period and 33% of firms conducting domestic work only or having ceased trading.

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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