Today the Department for Transport (DfT) released the 2019 2020 van statistics.

DfT road traffic estimates indicate that van travel has grown substantially over the last 25 years, increasing 106% to 55.5 billion vehicle miles in 2019. Van travel as a proportion of all motor vehicle miles has increased from 10% to 16% over the same period. Trend of Van Stock and Van Traffic, Great Britain 1994-2019 225 Index numbers: 1994 = 100 Van traffic 200 Van stock 175 150 125 Mileage 100 per van Source: DfT Statistics 75 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Vehicle stock statistics produced by DfT indicate that the number of vans in Great Britain has also increased substantially over the last 25 years (increasing 93% to 4.1 million licensed vans in 2019).

Average annual mileage per van in Great Britain (estimated from van vehicle miles divided by van stock) has remained broadly stable, at around 13,000 miles per year.

There has been major diversifcation in the types of vans on the market, including an expanse of car-derived vans, and diversity in propulsion type. However, the Ford Transit remains the most common make and model of van in Great Britain, with over 960,000 licenced as at end 2019.

Vans are predominently powered by diesel (96% at end 2019). The proportion of vans that were considered to be ultra-low emission in 2019 was 0.3%

Key Findings Van Usage in Great Britain

• Provisional fndings for Great Britain’s van owners in 2019-20 indicate that the primary usage of licensed vans was for ‘carrying equipment, tools and materials’ (41%), followed by ‘delivery/ collection of goods’ (16%).

• Over half (55%) of business owned vans were new; 34% owned outright and 21% owned via a hire purchase agreement. Most privately owned vans were second-hand (81%).

• Over two thirds of vans (67%) travelled on local or rural roads regularly (4 or more days per week), with other main or ‘A’ roads also used regularly by 61% of vans. Fewer vans used dual carriageways and motorways regularly, with only 40% and 22% of vehicles using these roads 4 or more days per week, respectively.

• Half of all vans (50%) in Great Britain stayed local, within 15 miles of their base, on a typical day.

• The most common primary usage of ultra low emission vans was ‘carrying equipment, tools, materials’ (50%) followed by ‘delivery/ collection of goods to other businesses/individuals’ (26%).

Click here for the full DFT van statistics report