Transport in Great Britain

Great Britain has a population of nearly 59 million and, with a land area of over 230,000km, a high population density, most of which live in urban areas. Eighty-nine per cent live in urban areas, similar to Germany and second only to Australia. Despite having an extensive road network, the level of car ownership in Britain has slipped from one of the highest in Western Europe in 1970 to one of the lowest.

Constituent Countries

NB. Great Britain consists of the countries England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is Great Britain plus the Province of Northern Ireland. All European Union statistics are the United Kingdom, but most other transport statistics are for Great Britain.

Road safety is among the best in the world and is still improving, but the improvement has not kept pace with those in Sweden and the Netherlands (these countries are not currently in our database).

The information you see above is just a sample of what we have available in the Transport Statistics Database. Additional information can be accessed by using the Table & Graph Builder. Data about Great Britain can be found in the following data sets:

• General & Infrastructure
• Energy & Emissions
• Safety
• Traffic & Travel
• Vehicle Stock

• Department for Transport (DfT) - Statistics Publications
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Transport Statistics Great Britain
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Road Accidents Great Britain 2006
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Regional Transport Statistics 2007
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Road Traffic Statistics 2006
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Road Statistics 2006 - Traffic, speeds and congestion
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Road Lengths
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Expenditure on Roads
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Road Condition and Maintenance
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Road Traffic Statistics for Local Authorities
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Traffic, Speeds and Congestion
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Vehicle Licensing
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Personal Travel
• Department for Transport (DfT) - National Travel Survey 2006
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Freight
• Department for Transport (DfT) - Energy and Environment
• National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory Data Warehouse
• Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) - Motor Industry Facts 2007
• Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) - Annual CO2 Report - 2008
• European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP)