Vehicle licensing statistics data files
Detailed information about vehicles in the UK, which would be too large to use as structured tables. They are provided as simple CSV text files.
We welcome any feedback on the structure of our data files, their usability, or any suggestions for improvements; please contact vehicles statistics.
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:
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3.1% in 2024
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2.3% in 2023
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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.
Data tables containing aggregated information about vehicles in the UK are also available.
How to use CSV files
CSV files can be used either as a spreadsheet (using Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet packages) or digitally using software packages and languages (for example, R or Python).
When using as a spreadsheet, there will be no formatting, but the file can still be explored like our publication tables. Due to their size, older software might not be able to open the entire file.
Download data files
Make and model by quarter
df_VEH0120_GB:
Scope: All registered vehicles in Great Britain; from 1994 Quarter 4 (end December)
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, Fuel, LicenceStatus, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
df_VEH0120_UK:
Scope: All registered vehicles in the United Kingdom; from 2014 Quarter 3 (end September)
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, Fuel, LicenceStatus, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
df_VEH0160_GB:
Scope: All vehicles registered for the first time in Great Britain; from 2001 Quarter 1 (January to March)
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, Fuel, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
df_VEH0160_UK:
Scope: All vehicles registered for the first time in the United Kingdom; from 2014 Quarter 3 (July to September)
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, Fuel, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
Make and model by age
In order to keep the datafile df_VEH0124 to a reasonable size, it has been split into 2 halves; 1 covering makes starting with A to M, and the other covering makes starting with N to Z.
df_VEH0124_AM:
Scope: All licensed vehicles in the United Kingdom with Make starting with A to M; annually from 2014
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, YearFirstUsed, YearManufacture, LicenceStatus, [number of vehicles; 1 column per year]
df_VEH0124_NZ:
Scope: All licensed vehicles in the United Kingdom with Make starting with N to Z; annually from 2014
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, YearFirstUsed, YearManufacture, LicenceStatus, [number of vehicles; 1 column per year]
Make and model by engine size
df_VEH0220:
Scope: All licensed vehicles in the United Kingdom; annually from 2014
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, Fuel, EngineSizeSimple, EngineSizeDesc, LicenceStatus, [number of vehicles; 1 column per year]
df_VEH0270:
Scope: All vehicles registered for the first time in the United Kingdom; annually from 2015
Schema: BodyType, Make, GenModel, Model, Fuel, EngineSizeSimple, EngineSizeDesc, [number of vehicles; 1 column per year]
Vehicles by small geography
In order to keep these files to a reasonable size, small areas which have never had 5 or more vehicles in scope are excluded from these datasets, with those vehicles combined into the Miscellaneous row. This means a number of LSOAs will be missing from the file.
df_VEH0125:
Scope: All licensed vehicles in the United Kingdom; Great Britain from 2009 Quarter 4 (end December); and United Kingdom from 2014 Quarter 3 (end September)
Schema: LSOA11CD, LSOA11NM, BodyType, Keepership, LicenceStatus, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
df_VEH0135:
Scope: All licensed ultra low emission vehicles in the United Kingdom; from 2011 Quarter 4 (end December)
Schema: LSOA11CD, LSOA11NM, Fuel, Keepership, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
df_VEH0145:
Scope: All licensed plug-in vehicles in the United Kingdom; from 2011 Quarter 4 (end December)
Schema: LSOA11CD, LSOA11NM, Fuel, Keepership, [number of vehicles; 1 column per quarter]
Heavy goods vehicles
This datafile replaces the following withdrawn tables:
- VEH0520
- VEH0521
- VEH0522
- VEH0523
- VEH0524
- VEH0525
- VEH0506
df_VEH0520:
Scope: All licensed heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), as well as all licensed zero emission light goods vehicles (LGVs) between 3.5 tonnes and 4.25 tonnes in the United Kingdom; annually; Great Britain from 1994; and United Kingdom from 2014
Schema: Geography, TaxClass, WheelPlan, WheelPlanDetailed, BodyTypeDetailed, RoadUsing, MaximumGrossWeightBand, YearFirstUsed, Fuel, [number of vehicles; 1 column per year]
Variables
The same variables are used across the data files to maintain consistency and ease of use.
Table 1: Metadata for general variables within VEH data files
Name | Type | Size | Example value | Description |
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BodyType | String | 17 | Cars | The 6 main body type categories used throughout the VEH series |
Make | String | 50 [note 1] | MINI | Vehicle make derived from make model codes |
GenModel | String | 50 [note 1] | MINI COUNTRYMAN | Grouping of model variants to help compare models in the market |
Model | String | 50 [note 1] | COUNTRYMAN COOPER D ALL4 | Detailed vehicle model derived from make model codes |
LicenceStatus | String | 8 | Licensed | Indicates whether the vehicle was licensed or with a SORN at the end of the quarter |
YearFirstUsed | Int | Not applicable | 2019 | Year of first registration if registered as new, otherwise not available |
YearManufacture | Int | Not applicable | 2016 | Year of manufacture, usually very similar to YearFirstUsed but not always available |
Fuel | String | 32 | Plug-in hybrid electric (Petrol) | Fuel type of the vehicle (groupings within data files can vary) |
EngineSizeSimple | Int | Not applicable | 1400 | Simplification of the engine size group EngineSizeDesc, showing the maximum value (useful for sorting) |
EngineSizeDesc | String | 18 | 1301cc to 1400cc | Grouping of engine sizes, usually in bands of 100cc, with exceptions for motorcycles |
LSOA11CD | String | 15 | E01000001 | ONS lower super output areas (LSOA) code from the 2011 Census for England and Wales, national equivalents for Scotland and Northern Ireland |
LSOA11NM | String | 75 | Newcastle-under-Lyme 007E | ONS lower super output area (LSOA) name from the 2011 Census for England and Wales, national equivalents for Scotland and Northern Ireland |
Note 1: Model information is subject to change with subsequent updates but can reasonably be expected to be under 50 characters.
Specific variables
Table 2: Metadata for variables within df_VEH520
Name | Type | Size | Example value | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Geography | String | 20 | Scotland | Geographic area that the statistics apply to within that record |
TaxClass | String | 17 | Goods | Grouping of tax classes |
WheelPlan | String | 11 | Rigid | Simple wheelplan |
WheelPlanDetailed | String | 30 | Articulated: 2 and 3 axle | Detailed wheelplan including axle counts |
BodyTypeDetailed | String | 50 | Dropside Lorry | Detailed body type |
RoadUsing | Int | Not applicable | 1 | Indicator for whether the detailed body type is considered “road using” within these statistics |
MaximumGrossWeightBand | String | 40 | A: Over 3.5 and up to 4.25 tonnes | Grouping of maximum gross weights |
Symbols
Symbols can appear in nearly all datafile variables, including integer valued ones, and are the same as those .
Table 3: Symbols used within VEH data files
Symbol | Type |
---|---|
[c] | Confidential (between 1 and 4 vehicles) |
[x] | Not available |
[z] | Not applicable |
Notes
The units used in data files are always a number of vehicles.
The majority of variables reported are recorded by DVLA for administrative purposes only and any errors can take time to be resolved, especially if they do not impact the taxation or keepership of the vehicle. Common inconsistencies include:
- model and fuel information
- fuel and engine size
Due to the encoding system used for makes and models, data can be missing for a variety of reasons. These include:
- imported vehicles not usually sold in the UK
- older vehicles manufactured before 1972
- rare versions of models
- new vehicles when the code lookup has not yet been updated
Engine sizes are often reported slightly lower than the colloquial value for a vehicle, for example a car with a 1.4 litre engine might have a reported engine size of 1398cc (cubic capacity).
Vehicles are allocated to a lower super output area (LSOA) according to the postcode of the registered keeper. This is the keeper’s address for privately-kept vehicles or the company’s registered address for company-kept vehicles. The address does not necessarily reflect where the vehicle is located. This is especially true for large fleets kept by companies involved with vehicle management, leasing or rentals. Significant changes in the number of vehicles from year to year can often occur when these companies change their registered address.
Other vehicles in BodyType refers to all vehicles not included in the other 5 categories, including rear diggers, lift trucks, rollers, ambulances, Hackney Carriages, 3 wheelers, tricycles and agricultural vehicles.
Miscellaneous in LSOA11CD refers to vehicles between keepers, registered at invalid postcodes, or within a lower super output area (LSOA) that has fewer than 5 individual vehicles in total.
Further information can be found in the notes and definitions.
Contact us
Vehicles statistics
Updates to this page
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Update on revisions added.
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Data files have been updated for the latest quarterly data for January to March 2025.
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Data updated for the latest report 2024.
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Data files have been updated for the latest quarterly data for April to June 2024.
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Data files have been updated for the latest quarterly data for January to March 2024.
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Data updated for the latest report 2023.
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Data tables have been updated for the latest quarterly data for July to September 2023.
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Data files - VEH0120 (Great Britain and United Kingdom), VEH0125, VEH0135, VEH0145 and VEH0160 (Great Britain and United Kingdom), updated for the April to June 2023 quarterly report.
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Data files - VEH0120 (Great Britain and United Kingdom), VEH0125, VEH0135, VEH0145 and VEH0160 (Great Britain and United Kingdom), updated for the January to March 2023 quarterly report.
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Data files updated for the vehicle licensing statistics report for the year 2022.
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Titles updated to 3 tables to include "keepership".
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Tables updated for the April to June 2022 report.
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Tables updated for the January to March 2022 report.
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First published.