Licensed motor vehicles
In 2023*, the number of licensed motor vehicles in the Lancashire-12 area was 757,970. Of these 340,675 used diesel for fuel (including 233,500 cars and 79,425 vans). Only 24,852 had hybrid engines using both petrol and electricity.
The 614,778 licensed cars in the Lancashire-12 area accounted for 81.1% of the total number of licensed vehicles in the area (UK = 81.6%).
The total number of licensed motor vehicles in the Lancashire-12 area has risen by 12,168 (1.6%) on the 2022* figure. The increase was the result of 8,834 extra licensed cars (of which 1,963 were registered in Preston), 2,657 more light goods vehicles, 363 more heavy goods vehicles, 181 more vehicles of type 'other' and 158 more motorcycles. There was a small decrease in the number of buses and coaches. Overall the total number of vehicles in the UK rose by over 370,000.
Please note that significant changes in the number of vehicles from year to year can sometimes occur when companies with large fleets of vehicles change their registered address. The published figures now include an indicator for whether the vehicles are privately or commercially owned, so we can tell if this happens. It appears not to have done so from 2022 to 2023 although there were 1,058 more licensed company vehicles in West Lancashire of which 406 were motorcycles. They are also now published quarterly, so (*) indicates that the 4th quarter of the year is being referred to.
The Environment and Transport Neighbourhood Intelligence dashboard allows for more detailed analysis of the licensed vehicle statistics, such as by district or groups of districts, by vehicle type and by year dating back to 2009. Analysis of the cars or vans with diesel engines is also provided. These are found on Slide 2 'Air quality / Road transport' of the dashboard.
Table 1. Licensed motor vehicles, 2023 (4th quarter)
| Area | Cars | Motorcycles | Light goods vehicles | Heavy goods vehicles | Buses and coaches | Other vehicles (1) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 39,000 | 1,171 | 4,633 | 636 | 78 | 489 | 46,000 |
| Chorley | 62,464 | 2,956 | 8,567 | 867 | 115 | 1,421 | 76,390 |
| Fylde | 46,147 | 1,870 | 4,797 | 484 | 133 | 1,027 | 54,458 |
| Hyndburn | 37,313 | 1,233 | 5,570 | 720 | 149 | 482 | 45,467 |
| Lancaster | 65,000 | 3,473 | 9,118 | 1,134 | 286 | 2,311 | 81,321 |
| Pendle | 42,600 | 1,518 | 6,300 | 684 | 167 | 949 | 52,218 |
| Preston | 65,360 | 2,067 | 7,800 | 1,112 | 235 | 1,286 | 77,853 |
| Ribble Valley | 36,239 | 1,494 | 5,619 | 800 | 128 | 2,200 | 46,478 |
| Rossendale | 35,511 | 1,600 | 4,900 | 600 | 50 | 752 | 43,421 |
| South Ribble | 61,866 | 2,846 | 8,365 | 1,980 | 377 | 1,211 | 76,645 |
| West Lancashire | 61,324 | 5,470 | 8,826 | 2,983 | 282 | 2,765 | 81,650 |
| Wyre | 61,339 | 2,871 | 7,900 | 843 | 120 | 2,219 | 75,300 |
| Lancashire-12(2) | 614,778 | 28,632 | 82,450 | 12,845 | 2,123 | 17,142 | 757,970 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 64,163 | 1,740 | 6,729 | 773 | 254 | 825 | 74,484 |
| Blackpool | 58,014 | 2,316 | 6,400 | 340 | 330 | 828 | 68,234 |
| Lancashire-14(3) | 736,955 | 32,688 | 95,585 | 13,958 | 2,700 | 18,800 | 900,688 |
| North West | 3,628,921 | 122,241 | 470,025 | 60,216 | 14,236 | 70,150 | 4,365,789 |
| England | 28,356,848 | 1,180,914 | 3,958,300 | 448,817 | 115,050 | 656,900 | 34,716,838 |
| United Kingdom | 33,579,946 | 1,353,937 | 4,710,275 | 534,969 | 141,311 | 854,840 | 41,175,278 |
Source: Department for Transport: Vehicle Licensing Statistics (table VEH0105).
(1) Other vehicles includes: diggers, rollers, ambulances, hackney carriages, 3-wheelers, agricultural vehicles, lift trucks.
(2) The Lancashire-12 figure includes a small number of "local authority unknown" vehicles.
(3) The Lancashire-14 figure has been calculated by us by summing the Lancashire-12, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool figures.
Page updated June 2024