Accredited official statistics

Road freight statistics: October 2019 to September 2020

Road freight activity for the United Kingdom and internationally from October 2019 to September 2020.

Documents

Road freight statistics: October 2019 to September 2020 tables

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Details

Statistics on road freight transported by Great Britain and UK registered Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) in the United Kingdom and internationally from October 2019 to September 2020.

Domestic road freight activity by Great Britain registered HGVs operating in the UK decreased in the 12-month period ending September 2020 compared to the 12-month period ending September 2019:

  • the amount of goods lifted decreased by 13% to 1.26 billion tonnes
  • the amount of goods moved decreased by 12% to 136 billion tonne kilometres

International road freight activity by UK-registered HGVs transporting freight internationally decreased in the 12-month period ending September 2020:

  • the amount of goods lifted decreased by 22% to 6.6 million tonnes
  • the amount of goods moved decreased by 26% to 3.9 billion tonne kilometres

These statistics cover the period following the government’s announcement of measures to limit the impact and transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In early March 2020, the UK government set out 4 phases in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. The evolving situation may have also impacted the activity of road goods vehicles prior to this stage. Coronavirus has had a wide impact on UK society and economic activity since March 2020.

As these data are affected by the coronavirus pandemic, caution should be taken when interpreting these data and comparing them with previous time periods.

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Road freight statistics

Email roadfreight.stats@dft.gov.uk

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Updates to this page

Published 22 April 2021

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