Accredited official statistics

Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2022 Summary

Published 14 December 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2023/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022-summary

About this release

Transport Statistics Great Britain (TSGB) presents an annual summary of statistics for cross-modal transport topics, mostly relating to the calendar year 2022. This condensed set of highlights is complemented by other Department for Transport (DfT) releases presenting more detailed and recent statistics. See the Transport Statistics Finder to explore what other statistics are published by DfT.

Other cross-modal topics of TSGB can be found in separate articles:

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and transport statistics

The statistics in this release cover the period when national and regional measures were introduced to prevent and reduce the global spread of COVID-19. Transport trends have been affected by these measures, which can be seen in the official statistics in this report.

Overview of cross-modal transport statistics

Infographic 1: Overview of cross-modal transport statistics in 2022 by topic

Infographic 1 is a summary of the main points from the latest transport trends in Great Britain. This infographic shows that:

For domestic travel in 2022:

  • people travelled a total of 740 billion passenger kilometres, 15% higher than 2021 (TSGB0101)
    • 86% of all passenger kilometres travelled used cars, vans and taxis
  • the average person, in England, completed 862 trips across both private and public modes of transport, 14% higher than 2021 levels (TSGB0103), of which:
    • the majority of trips in England were completed using private modes of transport
    • buses were the most commonly used public transport mode in both England and Great Britain
  • the most common reason for travel was leisure
  • the average commuting time in England was 28 minutes, similar to 2021 levels (TSGB0108)
    • this ranged from 15 minutes for walking to 63 minutes by rail

For international travel in 2022:

  • 195.6 million passengers travelled internationally to or from UK airports, 286% higher than 2021
    • most international terminal passenger movements travelled to and from Europe
  • 14.3 million passengers travelled internationally by sea, 156% more than 2021
    • most international short sea passenger movements were between the UK and France (SPAS0108)
  • 15.9 million rail passengers used the Channel Tunnel, 176% higher than 2021

For domestic freight in 2022: 

  • around 216 million tonnes of freight were moved in the UK
  • around 81% of freight moved in the UK was moved by road

Consideration

No comparison between 2022 and 2021 is made for domestic freight volumes due to a methodology change in road freight data in 2021 which means data before and after 2021 should not be compared. More information can be found in the methodology note.

Time series analysis can still be done for domestic rail and sea figures.

Use the Transport Statistics Finder to explore, download and view the statistical content published by the department.

Topic Related topics
Domestic travel Aviation
Buses
Journey time statistics
Light rail and tram
National Travel Survey
Public attitudes towards transport
Rail
Sea passengers
Walking and cycling
International travel Aviation
Public attitudes towards transport
Rail
Sea passengers
Domestic freight Port freight
Rail
Road freight
Shipping fleet

Background Information

We would welcome any feedback on these statistics by email. We will attempt to address any comments in a subsequent release.

Notes and definitions for each of the topics covered in TSGB are available.

The majority of the annual statistics in this release are National Statistics. This means they are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs.

These annual statistics were designated as National Statistics in July 2010.

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release are available.

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Contact details

Publications, dissemination and Transport Statistics Great Britain

Email transport.statistics@dft.gov.uk

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