Accredited official statistics

Vehicle licensing statistics, United Kingdom: April to June 2025

Published 15 October 2025

About this release

This release presents statistics on motor vehicles in the United Kingdom (UK) covering the period up to June 2025. They are based on administrative data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). These statistics include:

• new vehicle registrations

• all licensed vehicles

• zero emission vehicles

A range of detailed data tables and large data files are available online. Also available is a full list of definitions used in this release.

These statistics cover the whole of the United Kingdom, which is Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland. Data prior to July 2014 covers Great Britain only.

If you have any feedback on this release, please contact vehicle statistics.

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in April 2012. For more information, see the About these statistics section.

The Department for Transport is committed to continuously improving the quality and transparency of our outputs, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. In line with this, we have recently concluded a planned review of the processes and methodologies used in the production of Vehicle licensing statistics data. The review sought to seek out and introduce further improvements and efficiencies in the coding technologies we use to produce our data and as part of that, we have identified several historical errors across the published data tables affecting different historical periods. These errors are the result of mistakes in past production processes that we have now identified, corrected and taken steps to eliminate going forward.

Most of the revisions to our published figures are small, typically changing values by less than 1% to 3%. The key revisions are:

Licensed Vehicles (2014 Q3 to 2016 Q3)

We found that some unlicensed vehicles during this period were mistakenly counted as licensed. This caused a slight overstatement, about 0.54% on average, in the number of licensed vehicles during this period.

3.5 - 4.25 tonnes Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) Classification

Since 2023, ZEVs weighing between 3.5 and 4.25 tonnes have been classified as light goods vehicles (LGVs) instead of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). We have now applied this change to earlier data and corrected an error in table VEH0150. As a result, the number of newly registered HGVs has been reduced by:

• 3.1% in 2024

• 2.3% in 2023

• 1.4% in 2022

Table VEH0156 (2018 to 2023)

Table VEH0156, which reports average CO₂ emissions for newly registered vehicles, has been updated for the years 2018 to 2023. Most changes are minor (under 3%), but the e-NEDC measure saw a larger correction, up to 15.8%, due to a calculation error. Other measures (WLTP and Reported) were less notable, except for April 2020 when COVID-19 led to very few new registrations which led to greater volatility in the resultant percentages.

Neither these specific revisions, nor any of the others introduced, have had a material impact on the statistics overall, the direction of trends nor the key messages that they previously conveyed.

Specific details of each revision made has been included in the relevant data table notes to ensure transparency and clarity. Users are advised to review these notes as part of their regular use of the data to ensure their analysis accounts for these changes accordingly.

If you have questions regarding any of these changes, please contact the Vehicle statistics team.

Headline figures

Latest figures for 2025 Quarter 2 (April to June), show the number of new vehicle registrations decreased by 3%, when compared to 2024 Quarter 2 (April to June).

As at June 2025, there were 1,625,000 licensed zero emission vehicles on the road, representing 3.9% of all licensed road using vehicles.

Comparing 2025 Quarter 2 (April to June) with 2024 Quarter 2 (April to June), in the UK there were:

• 610,000 vehicles registered for the first time, a decrease of 3% (VEH0150)

• 113,000 vehicles registered for the first time that were zero emission, an increase of 28% (VEH1153a)

• 105,000 cars registered for the first time that were zero emission, an increase of 26%

As at June 2025, compared to June 2024, in the UK there were:

• 42.3 million licensed vehicles, an increase of 1% (VEH0101a)

• 1,625,000 licensed zero emission vehicles, an increase of 37% (VEH1103a), including 1,505,000 zero emission cars, an increase of 38%

As at June 2025, zero emission vehicles accounted for 3.9% of all licensed road using vehicles, an increase of 1 percentage point compared to June 2024.

New registrations of vehicles: overview

There were 610,000 vehicles registered for the first time in the UK in 2025 Quarter 2 (April to June). This was a decrease of 3% compared to 2024 Quarter 2 (April to June) (VEH0150).

Table 1: Vehicles registered for the first time in the year by body type, UK, 2025 Q2 (April to June) and 2024 Q2 (April to June) (VEH0150)

Body type	2025 Q2 (April to June): New registrations (thousands)	2024 Q2 (April to June): New registrations (thousands)	New registrations (year on year % change)
Total	610	625	-2.5
Cars	473	472	0.1
Light goods vehicles (LGVs)	75	86	-12.9
Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)	12	13	-8.2
Motorcycles	30	36	-15.1
Buses and coaches	3	2	45.6
Other vehicles	16	16	3.4

Monthly seasonality

When DVLA issues a new registration plate series, there is usually a peak in new vehicle registrations. Since 1999, new plates have been issued twice a year, in March and September.

New registrations of zero emission vehicles

Zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) are a sub-set of ultra low emission vehicles (vehicles that are reported to emit less than 75g of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the tailpipe for every kilometre travelled), currently only including:

• battery electric vehicles (BEVs)

• fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs, sometimes referred to as hydrogen powered)

There were 105,000 zero emission cars registered for the first time in April to June 2025, an increase of 26% from April to June 2024. Zero emission cars accounted for 22% of all new car registrations, compared to 18% in April to June 2024.

There were 6,000 zero emission light goods vehicles (LGVs) registered for the first time in April to June 2025,  an increase of 77%, compared to April to June 2024. Zero emission LGVs accounted for 8% of all new LGV registrations, an increase from 4% in April to June 2024.

Table 2: Zero emission vehicles registered for the first time by body type, with previous year and total new registrations comparison, UK, 2025 Q2 (April to June) and 2024 Q2 (April to June) (VEH1153a)

Body type	2025 Q2 (April to June): New registrations of zero emission vehicles	2025 Q2 (April to June): Proportion (%) of all new road using vehicle registrations that are zero emission	2024 Q2 (April to June): Proportion (%) of all new road using vehicle registrations that are zero emission
Total	112,785	19.0	14.5
Cars	104,770	22.2	17.5
Light goods vehicles	6,356	8.5	4.2
Heavy goods vehicles	106	0.9	0.6
Motorcycles	916	3.0	3.3
Buses and coaches	597	18.8	19.7
Other vehicles	40	4.2	2.1

Heavy vans

Cars and light goods vehicles (up to and including 3.5 tonnes) can typically be driven by those with a category B driving licence. Since July 2018, people with this licence can also drive alternatively fuelled vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes (which are classified as Heavy Goods Vehicles, HGVs, those over 3.5 tonnes) with some additional training.

The statistics presented here place these “heavy vans” into the light goods vehicle category to align with these policy changes.

Chart 1: Zero emission car and light goods vehicles (LGVs) registered for the first time as a percentage of all new registrations, UK, 2021 Q2 (April to June) to 2025 Q2 (April to June) (VEH1153a)

Chart 1 shows the new zero emission registrations of cars and light goods vehicles (LGVs) as a percentage of all new registrations in the first quarter (April to June) since 2021. In April to June 2025 both cars and LGVs have seen growth in their proportion of zero emission registrations compared to previous years. Zero emission cars accounted for 22% (up from 18% in April to June 2024) of new vehicle registrations, while zero emission LGVs accounted for 8%  (up from 4%  in April to June 2024).

Licensed vehicles

The number of licensed vehicles grows more slowly than the total number of new registrations. This is a consequence of vehicles leaving the on-road stock through a variety of routes, such as:

• receiving a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)

• being written off or scrapped

• being exported from the UK

Table 3: Licensed road using vehicles and licensed zero emission vehicles by body type, with one year and total stock comparison, UK, 2025 Q2 (April to June) (VEH1103a)

Body type	2025 Q2 (April to June): Licensed road using vehicles (thousands)	2025 Q2 (April to June): Licensed zero emission vehicles (thousands)	2025 Q2 (April to June): Proportion (%) of all licensed road using vehicles that are zero emission
Total	41,436	1,625	3.9
Cars	34,353	1,505	4.4
Light goods vehicles	4,866	98	2.0
Heavy goods vehicles	522	1	0.2
Motorcycles	1,475	14	0.9
Buses and coaches	145	7	4.5
Other vehicles	76	1	0.9

What vehicles are included?

These figures only include vehicles that are licensed for use on UK roads, which typically requires paying Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

Vehicles that are not licensed should typically be given a SORN. The keeper can then re-license their vehicle at any time. Detailed tables relating to vehicles with a SORN are available.

Improvements made in this release

If you have any feedback on this release, please contact vehicles statistics.

Data table changes

Classification in these statistics for HGVs and LGVs

Due to the additional weight of the powertrain (for example, the battery), typically, zero emission vehicles have an increased mass compared to their petrol and diesel equivalents. Despite this extra weight, 4.25 tonnes zero emission vans are equivalent in function and appearance to large petrol and diesel vans (3.5 tonnes). Since 2023, zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) weighing between 3.5 and 4.25 tonnes have been classified as light goods vehicles (LGVs) instead of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). In this publication, we have now applied this change back to the start of this statistical series. As such, For more details on body type definitions used in these statistics, please see our notes and definitions.

‘Percentage of total’ rows

To improve legibility and ease of use of data tables, rows labelled ‘Percentage of total’ rows have been removed from the data tables. However, percentage figures can still be calculated using the data provided in each data table.

Data file changes

For the 2025 Q2 release, we have improved our processing of Make and Model names within the data files to create a more consistent naming convention and less ‘MISSING’ values.

Background notes

About these figures

Almost all the statistics in the vehicle licensing statistics series are derived by Department for Transport statisticians from extracts of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) vehicle database. The main purpose of the database is to administer vehicle registration and licensing records in the United Kingdom.

For further information about the data used in this release, please see our guidance page which contains:

• detailed notes and definitions

• a note on users and uses of these statistics

There is also a Statement of Administrative Sources for the DVLA vehicles database.

In this release, numbers may not add up to totals and percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Geographic coverage

In July 2014, vehicle and registration services for Northern Ireland were centralised at DVLA, where these services for Great Britain were already administered. This created a single vehicle register for the United Kingdom, in place of separate registers for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. From this time, statistics can be provided for both Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

Data quality

The databases used for these statistics can be regarded as being virtually complete in terms of the number of vehicles registered for the first time, licensed vehicles, and vehicles with a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification). However, there may be some errors in some of the specific details of individual vehicles.

The Department for Transport has previously estimated that under 2% of the vehicle records have an inaccuracy in one of the variables used for the statistics published. Other factors to consider in interpreting these statistics include:

• changes in legislation

• seasonal variation which affects some vehicle types

• foreign registered vehicles may also use UK road without bring registered with DVLA

• Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) evasion

Most of these factors will only have a marginal effect for most uses of the data.

About these statistics

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in April 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in the pre-release access list.

Next release

Vehicle licensing statistics are published quarterly.

Dates of future releases will be advertised via the DfT statistical publications schedule.

To hear more about DfT statistics publications as they are released, please follow us on X .

Related sources of information

There are more recent data than published here available from various industry bodies covering most vehicle sales.

For car and van data, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) publish monthly shortly after the month-end, in advance of the publication of DfT’s detailed official statistics. This can be useful to look at the latest trends in vehicle registrations. Although there are slight differences in coverage of the SMMT data, the volumes and trends published by SMMT are generally consistent with DfT published data.

Comparison with the EU car market

The ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association) produce new registration figures collected from trade bodies across Europe, covering the EU, the UK, and the EFTA (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland). UK data is provided by The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents new car sales rather than new registrations with DVLA, so although the figures will be broadly comparable, they will not match.

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Contact details

Vehicles statistics

Email vehicles.stats@dft.gov.uk