National statistics

Road goods vehicles travelling to Europe: July 2021 to June 2022

Published 10 August 2022

About this release

This statistical release summarises the number of trips made by road goods vehicles travelling from Great Britain to Europe. The release also provides information on powered vehicles and unaccompanied trailers which are the two types of road goods vehicles. The information is collected from ferry operators and Eurotunnel each quarter, using the Roll-on-Roll-off survey (also called “RoRo”). This covers all ferry routes from Great Britain to Europe, including the Channel tunnel. Please note that domestic routes within the UK and routes to Northern Ireland have been excluded from the main findings of this release.

Notes about the data

Figures prior to 2004 do not include data for sea routes to the Republic of Ireland. Long term comparisons in this release therefore use data from 2004 onwards and care should be taken when comparing data before and after this. Data for vehicles registered to the Republic of Ireland have been excluded from tables RORO0201 and RORO1001 of this release due to data undergoing a quality review.

In the 12-month period ending June 2022, road goods vehicles made 3.19 million trips from Great Britain to Europe, which was 0.1% below the previous 12-month period and 7% below the 2015 to 2019 average.

Infographic 1: Total number of trips made by road goods vehicles travelling from Great Britain to Europe, split into powered vehicles and unaccompanied trailers, July 2021 to June 2022

Road Goods Vehicles traveling from Great Britain to Europe in the 12-month period ending June 2022 made 3.191 million trips, this is a 0.1% decrease compared to the same period ending June 2021 (3.195 million trips) and a 7% decrease compared to the 2015 to 2019 average.

Over the same 12-month period ending March 2022, Powered vehicles made 2.05 million trips, down 2% compared to 12-month period ending June 2021 (2.09 million trips) and down 16% compared to the 2015 to 2019 average. Unaccompanied trailers made 1.14 million trips, up 3% compared to the 12-month period ending June 2021 (1.11 million trips) and up 14% compared to the 2015 to 2019 average.

Definitions

This release summarises trips by road goods vehicles, which are made up of powered heavy goods vehicles and unaccompanied trailers.

Powered vehicles are Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) that weigh more than 3.5 tonnes and can be driven by a driver. This includes rigid lorries, tractors and trailers (counted as 1 unit) and tractive units only.

Unaccompanied trailers include tow-bar trailers and articulated semi-trailers, not accompanied on the ferry by a powered unit.

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and European Union (EU) exit on road goods vehicles traveling to Europe

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

Infographic 2 illustrates the COVID-19 measures in place each month between January 2021 and March 2022 in England. Restrictions from the third lockdown began to ease between March and July 2021. The delta variant was identified in England between May and June 2021. Finally, on the 8 December 2021 some restrictions were implemented following the spread of the Omicron variant, with COVID-19 restrictions later removed in England on 24 February 2022.

Chart 1: Number of trips made by roads goods vehicles travelling from Great Britain to Europe, shown with expected variation from the average, quarterly between 2015 and 2022 (Table RORO0101)

The 5-year average was calculated using data from 2015 to 2019. The average number of trips over this period was 857 thousand. The typical variation from this figure is shown by the standard deviation which, at 27 thousand trips, indicates that the number of trips has typically been between 830 thousand and 884 thousand (27 thousand higher or lower than the 857 thousand average) over this 5 year period.

The number of trips has been within, or close to, 2 standard deviations of the average for all quarters before 2020. Wider than usual variation was seen throughout 2020 and 2021 (greater than ±2 standard deviations), coinciding with the end of the EU-exit transition period and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of trips made by road goods vehicles travelling to Europe fell more than 2 standard deviations below the average during 2020 Quarter 2 (April to June) when the first national lockdown occurred. As COVID-19 restrictions eased in 2020 Quarter 3 (July to September) and 2020 Quarter 4 (October to December), there was a recovery, and the number of trips was within or close to typical variation.

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 trips was unusually low, falling outside 2 standard deviations of the average. Since then the number of trips has broadly been recovering despite ongoing challenges including disruptions to routes operated by P&O Ferries. In the most recent quarter of data, 2022 Quarter 2 (April to June), the number of trips remains below the 2015 to 2019 average but has returned within typical variation.

Powered vehicles: UK-registered and foreign-registered vehicles travelling to Europe

Since the earliest comparable data in 2004, trips by foreign-registered powered vehicles have outnumbered trips by UK-registered powered vehicles, with the number of trips by UK-registered vehicles decreasing over time.

Note: this section only covers powered vehicles. The country of registration is not collected for unaccompanied trailers. In this release, powered vehicles refer to heavy goods vehicles that can be driven by a driver.

Infographic 3: Total number of trips made by powered vehicles travelling from Great Britain to Europe, split into UK-registered and foreign-registered vehicles, July 2021 to June 2022

Note: the sum of UK-registered and foreign-registered vehicles may not equal the total number of powered vehicles due to rounding. Among powered vehicles, there were a further 30 thousand vehicles where the country of registration was unknown.

UK-registered vehicles made 0.25 million trips in the 12-month period ending June 2022, this is a 4% decrease compared to the same period in 2021 (0.26 million trips) and a 28% decrease compared to the 2015 to 2019 average.

Foreign-registered vehicles made 1.770 million trips in the 12-month period ending June 2022, this is a 0.3% decrease when compared to the same period in 2021 (1.771 million) and a 14% decrease compared to the 2015 to 2019 average.

Data source and more information

Each winter, we publish a more detailed report on the number of road goods vehicles travelling to Europe in the previous year, of which the most recent annual report covers data up to 2021.
Accompanying data tables which give further detail on the key results presented in this statistical release are available on the road freight statistics collection page.

Further information about the statistics and methodology in this report can be found in the roll-on roll-of international freight statistics notes and definitions.

Other statistics related to freight and trade are available.

Domestic road freight: 2020
International road freight: 2020
ONS UK trade statistical bulletins
Port freight annual statistics: 2020
Rail freight statistics
Aviation statistics

Please contact road freight statistics if you have any questions about the Department for Transport road freight statistics.

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

Email roadfreight.stats@dft.gov.uk

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