Accredited official statistics

NTS 2023: Trips by purpose, age, mode and sex

Published 28 August 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2023/nts-2023-trips-by-purpose-age-mode-and-sex

About this release

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a 7-day travel diary, which enables analysis of patterns and trends. Please see our latest technical report for more details. This release covers trips by purpose, age, mode and sex from these travel behaviours during 2023. During 2023, there were no longer any restrictions due to the pandemic, therefore these trends offer an insight into how personal travel compared to 2019.

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. For more information, see the background information section.

Chart 32: Trips per person per year by selected purposes: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0403)

The most common trip purpose in 2023 was for shopping with 169 trips per person, a 12% increase compared to 2022, but a decrease of 7% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Commuting was the second most common trip purpose in 2023 with 117 trips per person, remaining similar to 2022 but a decrease of 16% compared to 2019. This may suggest a shift towards working from home and hybrid working during this time. Other including just walk trips were the third most common trip purpose in 2023 with 87 trips per person, but were the only trip purpose showing a decrease compared to 2022 of 6%. Trips for this purpose were, however, 42% higher than in 2019.

During 2023, average trips for business, personal business and day trips also increased compared to 2022. Average trips for education and visiting friends at private home also remained similar compared to 2022.

Average trips for all purposes except other including just walk and day trips[footnote 1] were lower than 2019.

Chart 33: Miles travelled per person per year by selected purposes: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0403)

There were similar trends observed in average miles travelled as the number of average trips by trip purpose in 2023. Distance travelled for all trip purposes increased in 2023 compared to 2022, apart from other including just walk trips which remained similar with 88 miles per person in 2023. Distance travelled for this purpose remained higher than the long-term trend (58 miles per person in 2019).

The longest distance travelled was for commuting with 1,055 miles per person in 2023, an increase of 5% compared to 2022. This was, however, 17% less than 2019. The second largest distance travelled on average was for the purpose of visiting friends at home, with 864 miles per person in 2023, an increase of 13% compared to 2022, but remaining similar to 2019. The third longest distance travelled was for shopping with 622 miles per person in 2023, this was an increase of 9% compared to 2022, but a 11% decrease compared to 2019.

Like with average number of trips, other including just walk and day trips remained the only purposes showing an increase in average distance travelled compared to 2019. All other selected purposes remained a decrease compared to 2019 apart from visiting friends at private home which remained similar.

Chart 34: Average trips made, and miles travelled per person per year by sex: England, 2023 (NTS0601)

In 2023, males made 6% fewer trips (887 trips per person) than females (942 trips per person) but travelled 15% further (6,389 miles per person by males, as opposed to 5,576 miles per person by females).

This partly reflects differences in the type of trips made and the mode of travel used by males compared to females in 2023, with males making:

  • fewer trips but travelling longer distances by car (16% more miles on average)

  • more trips and travelling further by cycling (214% more miles on average or over 3 times more)

  • shorter and fewer trips by walking (5% less miles on average)

Females made more shopping trips, which tend to be relatively short, whereas males made more commuting and business trips which tend to be longer.

Chart 35: Average trips by sex, age and selected main modes: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0601)

Walking

Overall walking trip trends by females have fluctuated over the years but have remained fairly stable for age groups between 0 and 29. For age groups 30 and over, walking trips by females have seen an overall increase in recent years. Walking trip trends by males have remained stable over the years for all age groups. In 2023:

  • for females, those aged 30 to 39 made the most walking trips with 327 trips per person

  • for males, those aged 0 to 16 made the most walking trips with 263 trips per person

Car driver

For the age groups between 17 and 49, trends in car driver trips by females have declined over the years, and for age groups 50 and over increased. Males aged 17 to 59 have seen a decrease in car driver trips over the years, and the trend has been fairly stable for males aged 60 to 69 and slightly increased for males aged 70 and over. In 2023:

  • both males and females aged 21 and over made most of their trips as a car driver

  • for females, those aged 40 to 49 made the most car driver trips with 628 trips per person

  • for males, those aged 50 to 59 made the most car driver trips with 609 trips per person

Car passenger

Car passenger trips made by females have declined over the years for all age groups apart from those aged 70 and over where trends have been relatively stable. Males have seen a decline in car passenger trips for age groups between 0 and 20, and all other age groups have seen trends that are relatively stable. In 2023, for both males and females, those aged 0 to 16 made the most car passenger trips with 412 and 445 trips per person respectively.

Bus

For all age groups, females have shown a decline in bus trip trends over the years, whereas trends by males have been more stable. In 2023, for both males and females, those aged 17 to 20 have made the most bus trips with 79 and 90 trips per person respectively.

Surface rail

Surface rail trip trends have seen a gradual increase over the years by all age groups 17 and over, which follow a similar pattern for both males and females. In 2023:

  • for females, those aged 17 to 20 made the most surface rail trips with 55 trips per person

  • for males, those aged 21 to 29 made the most surface rail trips with 33 trips per person

Chart 36: Average trips by sex, age and selected purposes: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0611)

Shopping

Shopping trip trends have declined over the years for all age groups by males and females up to the age of 69, after which trends have remained stable. In 2023:

  • females aged 40 and over and males aged 60 and over made most of their trips for shopping

  • for both males and females, those aged 70 and over made the most shopping trips with 286 and 250 trips per person respectively

Commuting

Males and females have shown a decline in commuting trips over the years for age groups between 17 and 59, after which the trend is relatively stable. In 2023:

  • males made most of their trips for commuting between the age groups of 21 to 59

  • for both males and females, those aged between 21 to 29 made the most commuting trips with 233 and 209 trips per person respectively

Education

Education trips have fluctuated over the years but have remained fairly stable for both males and females. In 2023:

  • for both males and females, those aged 0 to 16 made most of their trips for education purposes with 266 and 272 trips per person respectively

  • the highest escort education trips were made by those aged 30 to 49, more by females than males

Visiting friends at private home

Visiting friends at private home trips have declined over the years for both males and females of all ages up to 59, and after this age have remained stable. In 2023, for both males and females, those aged 60 to 69 made the most trips for visiting friends at private home, with 79 and 102 trips per person respectively.

Personal business

Personal business trips have declined slightly over the years for both males and females of all age groups. In 2023, for both males and females, those aged 70 and over made the most trips for personal business, a category which includes trips for medical consultations or treatment, with 126 and 115 trips per person respectively.

Other including just walk

Other including just walk trips have increased in recent years by all age groups for both males and females. In 2023:

  • for males, those aged 70 and over made the most other including just walk trips with 119 trips per person

  • for females, those aged 50 to 59 made the most other including just walk trips with 134 trips per person

Chart 37: Proportion of commuting trips per person per year, by main mode and areas of residence: England, 2023 (ad hoc analyses NTSQ09030)

Outside London, residents in England rely on cars for commuting, with 70% of commuting trips made by car by residents from urban areas outside London, and this increases to 81% by residents in rural areas. Residents from London made the largest proportion of commuting trips by public transport with 53% in 2023, this reduces to 5% for residents living in rural areas. Around 19% of commuting trips are made by walking and cycling by residents from London, and 16% by residents from urban areas excluding London.

Background information

The 2023 NTS is the latest in a series of household surveys of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a 7-day travel diary. The NTS is part of a continuous survey that began in 1988, following ad-hoc surveys from the 1960s, which enables analysis of patterns and trends.

Some key uses of the data include describing patterns, for example, how different groups of people travel, monitoring trends in travel, including sustainable modes, assessing the potential equality impacts of different groups, and contributing to the evaluation of policies.

We always welcome feedback to help ensure that the survey meets the needs of users, and any feedback provided will help inform the future design and development of the survey. If you have any feedback, please email national.travelsurvey@dft.gov.uk.

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Further information is available, including:

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  1. Day trips include trips for pleasure (not otherwise classified as social or entertainment) within a single day and other including just walk trips include walking trips for pleasure or exercise along public highways, including taking the dog for a walk and jogging. ↩

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