Road freight statistics: 2024
Road freight transported by Great Britain and UK registered heavy goods vehicles (HGV). It also includes statistics on HGV driver vacancies in the UK.
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Details
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
This publication includes both accredited official statistics and official statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
You are welcome to contact us directly by e-mailing road freight statistics with any comments about how we meet these standards.
Important note for users
Domestic road freight data
Data collection for road freight statistics moved from a paper to online survey midway through 2021. An investigation of the data has concluded that the paper data up to June 2021 (quarter 2), and online data from July 2021 (quarter 3) onwards, for domestic road freight statistics should not be compared.
A detailed explanation of the methodology change and the impact on the domestic road freight data can be found within the methodology note.
International road freight data
This publication includes revisions to the statistics for the period January 2022 to December 2023.This change is based on revisions to statistics in the separate publication on Road goods vehicles travelling to Europe: 2024. These figures are used to calculate international road freight statistics by scaling the results of the international road freight survey to be representative of the total activity by all GB-registered HGVs.
Headline figures
Statistics on the domestic activity of GB-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) operating in the UK in 2024
In 2024:
- 1.59 billion tonnes of goods were lifted by GB-registered HGVs operating in the UK
- 168 billion tonne kilometres of goods were moved by GB-registered HGVs operating in the UK
- 19.4 billion vehicle kilometres were travelled GB-registered HGVs operating in the UK
Statistics on HGV driver vacancies in the UK in 2024
In 2024:
- The proportion of HGV businesses reporting HGV driver vacancies has decreased to 24% in quarter 4 2024, from 28% in quarter 2 2024. This is the first fall in reported HGV driver vacancies following increases since quarter 4 2023
- The top three most common reason for driver vacancies remained the same in 2024 as in 2023. These were ‘better pay or benefit elsewhere’, ‘existing driver leaving industry’ and ‘driver retirement’, each reported by a third of businesses
Statistics on the international activity of UK-registered HGVs in 2024
In 2024:
- 5.7 million tonnes of goods were lifted by UK-registered HGVs operating internationally
- 3.4 billion tonne kilometres of goods were moved by UK-registered HGVs operating internationally
The previous announcements 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 international road freight statistics over the past 6 years. Therefore, caution should be taken when comparing this data to previous time periods.
Contact us
Road freight statistics
Email roadfreight.stats@dft.gov.uk
Media enquiries 0300 7777 878
To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X at DfTstats.
Updates to this page
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Comparison between 2024 and 2023's volume of freight moved by GB-registered HGVs corrected in the Domestic report.
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First published.