Chapter 1: Road Transport Vehicles

Chapter 1: Road Transport Vehicles

Road Transport Vehicles

1. Introduction

This chapter provides information about the numbers of road transport vehicles, such as new registrations, numbers licensed by taxation group and council area, ages, cylinder sizes, methods of propulsion, gross weights of Heavy Goods Vehicles, seating capacity of public transport vehicles, licensing figures for taxi and private hire cars and their drivers and numbers of wheelchair accessible taxis.  It also provides statistics of the most popular cars, results of the road vehicle testing scheme (MOT), driving tests, driving licence holders, households with the regular use of a car (from the Scottish Household Survey), the number of Blue Badges issued and information about motor vehicle offences recorded by the Police.

Key Points

• There were 2.99 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland in 2018, of which 83 per cent were cars.
• Over two thirds (70%) of the adult population (17+) held a full driving licence in 2018.
• Seventy one per cent of households had access to one or more cars or vans in 2018; over a quarter (29%) of households had access to two or more cars or vans.

2. Main Points

Vehicles Licensed

2.1 The total number of new motor vehicles registrations in 2018 was around 233,058, 7% less than in 2017 and 8% less than 2008. (Table 1.1)

2.2 New registrations of cars in 2018 accounted for around 187,510 of these, around 17,000 (8%) less than in 2017, and 15,000 9%) more than 2008.  Of all new registered vehicles in 2018, 130,664 (56%) were petrol-propelled, and 92,000 (40%) were diesel-propelled. The remaining new vehicles registered in 2018 were mostly electric or hybrid-electric vehicles, both these groups have seen steady increases in new registrations in recent years.  In the last 10 years, only 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 saw more new diesel vehicles registered than petrol vehicles. More detailed data on vehicles registered in 2018 by body type and propulsion is included in Chapter 13. (Table 1.1)

2.3 The total number of vehicles licensed was 2.99 million in 2018, 1 per cent higher than 2017 and 12% higher than in 2008.  The number of private and light goods vehicles in 2018 was 2.7 million, 1% more than 2017 and 14% higher than 2008. (Table 1.2)

2.4 Glasgow had the largest number of vehicles licensed as at the end of 2018 (237,478), followed by Fife (210,554) and Edinburgh (199,993) - based on the postcode of the registered keeper.  Per head of population (aged 17+), Dundee had the third lowest figure behind Edinburgh and Glasgow.  Dundee had 519 vehicles for every 1,000 people aged 17+, Glasgow was lowest at 456.  Vehicle ownership per head was much higher in rural areas – Renfrewshire had 954 vehicles per 1,000 people aged 17+ , Orkney had 928 and Aberdeenshire had 905, the three areas in Scotland with the highest vehicle ownership by population.  The Scotland average was 670 per thousand. The pattern for car registrations was similar with Glasgow lowest, but Renfrewshire had the highest figure per thousand population at 808, followed by Stirling at 748.  The effect of the registration of company car fleets can be seen: Renfrewshire accounted for 23 per cent (40,756) of all the company cars registered in Scotland, compared to 5 per cent of all cars. (Table 1.3)

2.5 There were 10,153 taxis and 14,271 private hire cars licensed in Scotland based on figures provided by Scottish local licensing authorities during October-November 2019. These show that licensed taxis have fallen by 203 and private hire cars have risen by 428 compared with figures for 2018.  Latest figures show that of the 10,153 licensed taxis, 4,835 (48%) are wheelchair accessible, the same proportion and slight increase in the total number of accessible vehicles from the previous year. The proportion of wheelchair accessible vehicles varies across different authority areas. (Table 1.4)

2.6 The average age of private and light goods vehicles in 2018 was 6.7 years, slightly higher than last year, and continuing a trend of increasing average age since 2007. The average age of private and light goods vehicles continued to be lower in Scotland than for Great Britain as a whole. In 2018 the average age of these vehicles in Great Britain was 7.9 years. (Table 1.6)

2.7 There were 5,710 licensed operators of heavy goods vehicles in Scotland in December 2019 and 752 public service vehicle licence holders.  Most HGV operators had few (if any) vehicles specified on the licence: 2,651 had 0-2 vehicles, 1,434 had 3-5 vehicles and 784 had 6-10 vehicles.  Only 96 operators had between 51 and 100 vehicles specified on the licence as at December 2019.  (Table 1.10)

2.8 The most popular new car sold in Scotland in 2018 was the Ford Fiesta with a market share of 3.8%.  The top 5 most popular models had a total market share of 14% and the top 10, 22%. (Table 1.11)

MOTs and Driving Tests

2.9 In 2018/19, about 35% of cars tested in the road vehicle testing scheme (MOT) were unsatisfactory, as were 14% of motor cycles. About 16% of cars tested had unsatisfactory suspension, 13% had unsatisfactory lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and 13% had unsatisfactory brakes (a vehicle with more than one type of fault is counted against each of them). Seven per cent of motorcycles tested had unsatisfactory lamps and reflectors, 3% had unsatisfactory brakes and 3% had unsatisfactory structure and attachments. (Table 1.12)

2.10 There were 125,000 driving licence practical tests conducted in 2018, a decrease of 6% on 2017. The pass rate was 8% lower at 60%. The test centre at the Gairloch had the highest pass rate (86%), though only 37 tests were conducted, Pitlochry had the highest pass rate for centres where at least 100 tests were conducted (78%), while the lowest was at Inverness(Longman drive) (36%).  (Tables 1.13 & 1.14)

2.11 The Scottish Household Survey results for 2018 showed that 70% of adults over the age of 17 held a full driving license. Although men were more likely to hold a full driving licence than women in all age groups, the difference between the proportions increased with age.  For the 17-19 age group in 2018, the difference was 8 percentage points. For 70-79 year olds there was a difference of 24 percentage points (men: 83%, women: 59%), which increased to 37 percentage points for those aged 80+ (men: 68%; women: 31%). (Tables 1.16 and 1.17)

2.12 SHS results also showed that the percentage of people holding a full driving licence tended to increase with household income. In 2018, 90% of adults aged 17+ living in households which had an annual net income of over £50,000 held a full driving licence.  In contrast, only 45% of adults who lived in households with an annual net income of up to £10,000 held a full driving licence. 

2.13 License possession was also more likely in rural areas.  In 2018, 61% of adults aged 17+ living in large urban areas held a full driving licence compared with 81% of those living in ‘Remote Rural’ areas (the Scottish Government urban/rural classification system used in the Survey is described in the Notes and Definitions section, page 225). (Table 1.16)

Car Availability

2.14 The Scottish Household Survey shows that 71 per cent of households had access to one or more cars in 2018, a proportion that has remained relatively stable over the last five years.  Over a quarter (29%) of households had access to two or more cars.  (Table 1.19)  These estimates were similar to results from the Scotland Census 2011, which suggested that 69% of households have access to one or more cars, with 27% having two or more cars. The Census also showed that slightly fewer men (21 per cent) than women (26 per cent) aged 16 and over lived in households with no cars or vans available. (Table 1.23)

2.15 The Scottish Household Survey also shows how the percentage of households with a car available for private use varies between different household types, income bands and type of area.  In 2018, family (small or large) and large adult households were most likely to have access to at least one car (large family: 93%, small family: 90%, large adult: 87%). (note definitions of family types are included in the Notes and Definitions section, page 225)  Least likely to have access to a car were single pensioner households (45%). The SHS also showed that 29% of large adult and 18% of large family households had 3 or more cars available for private use in 2018. (Table 1.20)  The 2011 Census showed that married or cohabiting families with dependent children were most likely to have access to a car, at 92%, and single pensioner households were the least likely, at 36%. (Table 1.24)

2.16 Only 41% of households whose net annual income was up to £10,000 had one or more cars available for private use, compared with at least 83% of households whose annual net income were above £25,000. Sixty one per cent of households in large urban areas had cars, compared with 85-88% of those in rural areas. (Table 1.20)

2.17   The car ownership statistics from the SHS can be supplemented with information on equalities from the 2011 Census.  This shows that the proportion of households with no car or van available was generally higher for those where the Household Reference Person (HRP)^[1] was from a minority ethnic group; within this group it was highest for households where the HRP was from the ‘African’ (60 per cent) or ‘Caribbean or Black’ (49 per cent) ethnic groups.  Additionally, of the 473,000 people in households who had a long-term health problem or disability that limited their day-to-day activities a lot, 46 per cent lived in households with no cars or vans available.  The corresponding proportion was 34 per cent for the 523,000 people whose day-day activities were limited a little and 19 per cent for the 4.2 million people who had no limiting long-term health problem. (Table 1.25)

2.18 There were 230,898 Blue Badges on issue in Scotland at the end of March 2019.  117,792 were issued to recipients of allowances or grants which provide an automatic entitlement to a Blue Badge, 110,456 were issued on a discretionary basis to other people with a permanent or substantial disability, and 2,650 were issued to institutions. (Table 1.21)

Motor Vehicle Offences

2.19 The numbers of motor vehicle offences recorded by the police include offences in respect of which either the police or the procurator fiscal made a conditional offer of a fixed penalty (mainly moving vehicle offences).  They do not include stationary vehicle offences which are dealt with by the police or traffic wardens by means of fixed penalty notices (mainly parking offences).

2.20 Following the establishment of Police Scotland, data for 2013-14 onwards are returned from one central unit within Police Scotland using their performance management tool. Prior to 2013-14, data were returned by the eight legacy police force areas. An extensive quality assurance exercise was carried out by the Scottish Government to ensure that the dataset produced from the new system is consistent with data returned from the legacy police forces.

2.21 This exercise identified a number of anomalies affecting comparability of the time series resulting in breaks in the series. Further information about these discontinuities can be found in the Technical report, entitled Recorded Crime: Comparability of Police Scotland and Legacy Force Data, available from http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport.

2.20 The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded in 2018-19 was 117,105 (Table 1.22).

2.21 The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded decreased by 8% between 2017-18 and 2018-19; changes in these figures may arise because of changes in the level of enforcement or police deployment. The largest decreases were for vehicle excise licence offences (95% decrease from 3,792 to 176) and tachograph etc offences (40% decrease from 950 to 569). The largest increase was for driving while unfit through drink/drugs (7% increase from 719 to 771) (Table 1.22).

Figure 1.1: New registrations by taxation group

Note: In 2003 the definition of 'Crown Exempt' and 'Other' categories mean figures aren't strictly comparable. See footnote 3 of table 1.1

 

Table 1.1: New registrations by taxation group, body type and method of propulsion

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
											thousand
by type of vehicle (taxation group)
Private and light goods	170	177	168	159	175	199	217	223	225	207	190
Motorcycles	7	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	6	6
Buses	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Goods	4	2	2	2	3	3	2	3	4	3	3
Crown and exempt 1	32	30	32	34	32	32	34	32	32	31	31
Other vehicles 1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2
Total	215	216	209	202	216	241	262	268	270	250	233
by body type
Cars	173	186	177	168	183	205	222	222	222	204	188
Taxis	~	~	~	~	~	~	1	~	~	~	~
Motorcycles	8	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	6	6
Three wheelers	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Light goods 3	23	14	18	20	18	20	23	28	29	28	28
Goods 3	4	3	2	3	3	4	3	4	5	4	4
Buses and coaches	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Agricultural vehicles etc	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Other vehicles	3	2	2	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
All vehicles	215	216	209	202	216	241	262	268	270	250	233
by method of propulsion
Petrol	117	124	108	98	110	119	125	125	128	124	131
Diesel	97	91	99	102	104	120	133	138	137	118	92
Hybrid Electric	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	6	8
Electricity	~	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2
Gas Bi-Fuel	~	~	~	~	~	~	c	0	~	~	~
Gas Or Petrol/Gas	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Other 4	~	~	~	c	~	c	~	~	c	c	~
Total	215	216	209	202	216	241	262	268	270	250	233

Source: DVLA/DfT

c. Value has been suppressed to avoid disclosing personal information.

~ denotes fewer than 50.

1. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards 

3. Gas Diesel and Steam.

Note: Table 13.9 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles first registered in 2018 by body type and method of propulsion.

 

Table 1.2: Vehicles licensed at 31 December, by taxation group, body type and method of propulsion

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
											thousand
by type of vehicle (taxation group)
Private and light goods	2,347	2,362	2,364	2,369	2,395	2,436	2,496	2,537	2,594	2,638	2,665
Motorcycles	66	66	63	60	60	59	61	62	63	62	62
Buses	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Goods	32	31	30	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	28
Crown and exempt 1	198	203	206	211	212	213	214	211	208	207	211
Other vehicles 1	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	12	12
Total	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863	2,919	2,962	2,991
by body type
Cars	2,233	2,249	2,255	2,264	2,285	2,319	2,369	2,394	2,433	2,462	2,486
Taxis	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3
Motorcycles	71	72	69	66	66	66	67	68	70	70	71
Three wheelers	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Light goods 2	240	242	240	238	241	247	256	269	283	294	298
Goods 2	38	37	36	36	35	36	36	37	38	38	37
Buses and coaches	17	17	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	14
Agricultural vehicles etc	44	45	45	47	48	48	49	50	50	52	54
Other vehicles	18	18	19	20	22	23	24	25	25	26	27
All vehicles	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863	2,919	2,962	2,991
by method of propulsion
Petrol	1,735	1,701	1,656	1,619	1,592	1,567	1,552	1,522	1,509	1,497	1,503
Diesel	923	974	1,018	1,061	1,113	1,178	1,252	1,321	1,386	1,435	1,450
Hybrid Electric	2	3	4	5	6	8	9	11	14	19	27
Electricity	1	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	7	9	10
Gas Bi-Fuel	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1
Gas or petrol/gas	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Steam	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Others	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Total	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863	2,919	2,962	2,991

Source: DVLA/DfT

~ denotes fewer than 50.

1. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards 

2. DfT have revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763837/vehicle-licensing-statistics-notes-definitions.pdf

Note: Table 13.10 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles licensed in 2018 by body type and method of propulsion.

Figure 1.2: Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2018 by Council

Figure 1.3: Private cars licensed at 31 December 2018 per thousand population aged 17+

Source: DVLA/DfT

1.Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles

2. Excludes heavy goods vehicles that are exempt from tax.

3. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Groupare now part of Crown and Exempt taxation group. 

4. Formerly Western Isles

Table 1.3: Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2018 by Council and taxation group

	Private and light goods		Motorcycles1	Buses	Goods2	Crown and Exempt 3	Other vehicles	All vehicles			Population aged 17+ (NRS Population estimates Mid 2018)	Vehicles registered per 1,000 people aged 17+	Cars registered per 1,000 people aged 17+
	Body type cars	Other vehicles						Total	of which body type cars	of which company cars
										thousand
Aberdeen City	91.4	8.9	2.8	0.5	0.9	4.3	0.4	109.3	94.4	4.3	190,985	572	494
Aberdeenshire	140.2	22.4	4.7	0.6	2.1	18.4	1.3	189.6	144.9	5.4	209,655	905	691
Angus	56.7	7.7	1.8	0.1	0.9	6.8	0.3	74.3	59.2	2.5	95,586	777	620
Argyll & Bute	40.6	7.7	1.2	0.3	0.6	4.2	0.3	54.8	42.5	1.8	72,394	757	587
Clackmannanshire	24.6	2.4	0.7	0.1	0.1	1.9	0.1	29.9	26.0	1.1	41,865	714	621
Dumfries & Galloway	72.0	13.0	2.6	0.2	1.5	11.7	0.4	101.3	75.9	3.9	123,948	817	613
Dundee City	52.8	4.6	1.3	0.3	0.5	4.5	0.1	64.0	56.0	3.4	123,394	519	454
East Ayrshire	54.0	6.5	1.6	0.2	0.7	6.6	0.2	69.8	57.1	3.0	99,441	702	575
East Dunbartonshire	53.4	3.6	1.0	0.1	0.2	2.4	0.1	60.8	55.4	1.7	87,928	692	630
East Lothian	49.4	5.5	1.6	0.1	0.3	4.1	0.1	61.2	51.6	2.1	85,342	717	605
East Renfrewshire	46.1	2.8	0.7	0.1	0.2	2.2	0.1	52.2	47.8	1.8	74,690	699	640
Edinburgh, City of	170.0	13.6	4.2	1.3	0.5	10.1	0.3	200.0	176.6	8.2	435,786	459	405
Eilean Siar 4	12.4	3.5	0.5	0.2	0.2	1.7	0.1	18.6	13.1	0.5	22,244	834	588
Falkirk	76.2	7.7	2.1	0.4	1.3	5.0	0.2	93.0	80.0	3.7	130,493	712	613
Fife	171.4	18.1	5.0	0.9	1.2	13.5	0.5	210.6	180.1	7.9	303,760	693	593
Glasgow, City of	185.7	24.8	3.0	1.5	1.8	19.0	1.8	237.5	200.4	18.8	521,149	456	385
Highland	112.2	22.6	3.9	0.6	1.4	13.6	1.0	155.4	117.1	5.4	193,695	802	605
Inverclyde	32.6	2.1	0.7	0.4	0.1	2.3	0.0	38.3	34.6	1.5	64,787	591	534
Midlothian	41.5	5.0	1.5	0.1	0.4	3.1	0.1	51.7	43.7	2.0	72,838	709	600
Moray	45.4	7.5	1.7	0.1	0.7	5.0	0.3	60.8	47.3	1.9	78,303	776	604
North Ayrshire	58.4	6.2	1.7	0.2	0.7	5.0	0.2	72.3	61.8	3.1	111,104	651	557
North Lanarkshire	139.7	16.3	2.7	0.5	2.7	11.1	0.4	173.6	149.4	8.7	273,439	635	546
Orkney Islands	10.5	2.8	0.5	0.1	0.2	2.9	0.2	17.1	11.1	0.5	18,417	928	605
Perth & Kinross	74.3	10.9	2.1	0.2	0.8	8.0	1.9	98.2	77.1	3.7	125,278	784	616
Renfrewshire	112.9	16.2	1.8	0.5	1.3	6.2	0.2	139.1	117.8	40.8	145,804	954	808
Scottish Borders	57.7	9.6	1.7	0.2	1.3	7.6	0.3	78.3	60.0	2.9	95,033	824	632
Shetland Islands	11.2	3.2	0.5	0.1	0.2	1.4	0.2	16.8	11.6	0.8	18,542	904	624
South Ayrshire	53.3	5.8	1.5	0.5	0.3	4.5	0.1	66.0	55.8	2.7	93,818	703	595
South Lanarkshire	143.6	14.8	3.0	0.6	2.3	11.3	0.5	176.0	151.8	7.8	260,474	676	583
Stirling	56.0	8.2	1.1	0.1	0.6	3.7	0.1	69.9	58.2	15.0	77,839	897	748
West Dunbartonshire	36.3	4.1	0.8	0.1	0.2	2.7	0.1	44.3	38.6	2.2	72,531	611	532
West Lothian	83.5	10.2	2.4	0.4	1.9	6.0	0.5	104.9	87.9	4.4	144,566	726	608
Council Unknown	0.6	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.0	1.3	0.9	0.1
Scotland	2,366.8	298.1	62.2	11.7	28.3	211.4	12.2	2,990.7	2,486.0	173.6	4,465,128	670	557

 

Table 1.4: Taxi, private hire cars and drivers licensed by local authority area, 2019

	Taxi vehicles	Private hire cars	Total	Taxi driver licenses	Private hire licences	Total	Wheelchair accessible taxis	Wheelchair accessible private hire cars
Council
Aberdeen City	843	212	1,055	1,281	32	1,313	430	-
Aberdeenshire	395	227	622	1,453	136	1,589	42	32
Angus	108	58	166	185	96	281	5	2
Argyll & Bute	182	72	254	391	78	469	-	-
Clackmannanshire	53	52	105	156	7	163	4	1
Dumfries & Galloway	240	82	322	533	30	563	7
Dundee City	560	212	772	1,191	65	1,256	305	-
East Ayrshire	125	87	212	380	23	403	21	6
East Dunbartonshire	309	342	651	644	117	761	49	4
East Lothian 1	138	125	263	385	-	385	138	-
East Renfrewshire	56	422	478	76	551	627	5	29
Edinburgh, City of	1,316	2,317	3,633	2,934	3,153	6,087	1,316	-
Eilean Siar	92	27	119	152	27	179	1	3
Falkirk	415	125	540	532	102	634	69	7
Fife 1	476	364	840	1,794	-	1,794	19	46
Glasgow, City of	1,420	3,940	5,360	2,353	5,475	7,828	1,420	21
Highland	602	224	826	801	313	1,114	32	18
Inverclyde 1	244	53	297	587	-	587	20	8
Midlothian	40	130	170	36	176	212	40	-
Moray	171	32	203	317	15	332	9	5
North Ayrshire	220	63	283	549	2	551	38	-
North Lanarkshire	492	1,466	1,958	1,158	1,542	2,700	176	1
Orkney Islands	44	34	78	112	15	127	1	2
Perth & Kinross 1	107	223	330	602	-	602	10	22
Renfrewshire	235	986	1,221	472	1,019	1,491	229	33
Scottish Borders	203	75	278	311	30	341	14	12
Shetland Islands	78	57	135	287	71	358	2	1
South Ayrshire	125	173	298	512	74	586	125	-
South Lanarkshire	348	1,459	1,807	693	1,586	2,279	22	28
Stirling	76	109	185	335	15	350	15	12
West Dunbartonshire 1	336	84	420	516	-	516	167	11
West Lothian	104	439	543	188	662	850	104	50
Scotland	10,153	14,271	24,424	21,916	15,412	37,328	4,835	354

Source: Scottish Government - Not National Statistics

1. Separate figures for taxi and private hire licences are not available.

Table 1.5: Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2018, by taxation group, and by year of first registration

Taxation group	Pre-2004	2004-2008	2009-2013	2014-2018	Total	Total  stock	Average age of vehicles
				percentage of total		thousands	years
Private and light goods	5.4	18.9	30.6	45.1	100.0	2,665	6.7
of which body type cars	5.1	18.6	31.0	45.3	100.0	2,367	6.6
Motorcycles1	27.2	18.0	18.6	36.2	100.0	62	10.2
Buses	12.1	27.7	27.8	32.4	100.0	12	8.6
Goods	6.5	16.7	29.6	47.2	100.0	28	6.4
Crown and exempt	24.6	11.4	15.5	48.5	100.0	211	13.2
Other vehicles	14.0	14.0	18.0	54.0	100.0	12	7.1
All vehicles	7.3	18.4	29.2	45.2	100.0	2,991	7.2
of which body type cars	5.5	18.2	30.0	46.2	100.0	2,486	6.7

Source: DVLA/DfT

1. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.

Table 1.6: Average age of vehicles licensed at 31 December, by taxation group¹

Type of vehicle	20085	20095	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
(a) Scotland											years
Private and light goods	5.8	6.0	6.1	6.3	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.7
Motorcycles 2	7.3	7.8	8.2	8.6	9.0	9.4	9.6	9.8	9.9	10.0	10.2
Buses 3	7.8	8.0	8.1	8.4	8.4	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.5	8.6
Goods	5.5	5.8	6.1	6.2	6.3	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.1	6.2	6.4
Crown and exempt 4	10.3	10.4	10.6	10.7	10.9	11.3	11.5	11.9	12.3	12.7	13.2
Other vehicles 4	7.2	7.5	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.9	7.8	7.5	7.3	7.3	7.1
All vehicles	6.2	6.4	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.1	7.2
(b) Great Britain
Private and light goods	6.7	6.9	7.1	7.3	7.5	7.6	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.8	7.9
Motorcycles 2	7.2	7.7	8.1	8.5	8.9	9.2	9.5	9.6	9.6	9.8	9.9
Buses 3	7.9	8.0	8.2	8.4	8.4	8.4	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.6	8.6
Goods	5.7	6.0	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.4
Crown and exempt 4	14.3	14.4	14.2	14.5	14.7	15.2	15.6	16.0	16.5	16.9	17.6
Other vehicles 4	8.5	9.0	9.2	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.1	8.8	8.9	8.8	8.6
All vehicles	7.2	7.4	7.6	7.8	8.0	8.2	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.4	8.5

Source: DVLA/DfT

1. Average age is calculated using date of first registration rather than date of manufacture.

2. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.

3. Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats. 

4. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards.  

Table 1.7: Private and light goods vehicles licensed at 31 December, by cylinder size

Cylinder size	20081	20091	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
											percentage of year total
up to 700 cc	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
701 to 1,000 cc	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	4.0	4.5	5.2	5.9	6.7	7.4	8.5
1,001 to 1,200 cc	7.0	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.7
1,201 to 1,500 cc	24.4	24.7	25.3	25.7	26.0	26.2	26.2	26.3	26.5	26.5	26.5
1,501 to 1,800 cc	25.2	24.8	24.6	24.7	24.7	24.8	24.6	24.3	23.7	23.1	22.3
1,801 to 2,000 cc	23.0	23.2	22.9	22.5	22.0	21.4	20.9	20.4	20.1	20.3	20.4
2,001 to 2,500 cc	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.2	11.1	10.8	10.4
2,501 to 3,000 cc	3.9	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.8
3,000 cc and over	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.4
cc not known	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Total	2,347	2,362	2,364	2,369	2,395	2,436	2,496	2,537	2,594	2,638	2,665

Source: DVLA/DfT

~ denotes fewer than 50.

1. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763837/vehicle-licensing-statistics-notes-definitions.pdf

Table 1.8: Heavy goods vehicles licensed at 31 December, by gross weight

Gross weight (tonnes)	20082	20092	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
											percentage of year total
3.5 to 7.5	29.6	29.1	29.2	28.8	28.3	26.9	26.2	25.2	24.2	23.5	22.3
7.51 to 12	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.7	2.7	2.8	3.2	3.3	3.3
12.1 to 16	4.3	4.1	4.0	3.7	3.6	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.4	3.1	3.4
16.1 to 20	14.1	14.1	14.4	14.2	14.1	14.1	13.8	13.4	13.1	12.9	12.7
20.1 to 24	3.7	3.4	3.2	2.7	2.4	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.0	1.9
24.1 to 28	12.6	13.0	13.3	13.8	14.1	14.6	14.4	14.4	14.2	14.3	14.7
28.1 to 32	9.0	9.0	8.9	9.1	9.0	9.2	9.8	10.1	10.5	10.7	11.5
32.1 to 38	2.7	2.7	2.4	1.9	2.2	2.0	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.8
over 38	21.7	22.3	22.2	23.3	23.8	24.8	25.6	26.7	27.8	28.6	28.5
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
											thousand
Total 1	32.2	31.2	30.4	29.4	28.9	28.9	29.4	29.7	30.3	30.3	28.3

Source: DVLA/DfT

1. Mainly heavy goods vehicles but includes vehicles which are licensed as HGVs but do not have a goods body type. 

2. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763837/vehicle-licensing-statistics-notes-definitions.pdf

Table 1.9: Buses licensed at 31 December: by seating capacity

Number of seats	20081	20091	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
9-15	1,825	1,766	1,795	1,753	1,721	1,701	1,666	1,636	1,615	1,528	1,464
16-32	3,871	3,920	3,912	3,795	3,836	3,916	3,995	4,013	4,094	4,111	4,159
33-40	1,266	1,186	1,117	1,082	1,003	948	1,008	975	975	1,002	986
41-48	1,370	1,383	1,379	1,415	1,458	1,507	1,528	1,529	1,418	1,383	1,375
49-56	1,859	1,757	1,667	1,580	1,449	1,384	1,388	1,380	1,306	1,321	1,270
57-64	217	270	274	319	397	413	443	463	472	448	493
65-72	523	525	583	539	553	513	510	513	487	486	492
73 and over	1,418	1,411	1,384	1,446	1,417	1,374	1,375	1,423	1,466	1,475	1,489
Total	12,349	12,218	12,111	11,929	11,834	11,756	11,913	11,932	11,833	11,754	11,728

Source: DVLA/DfT

1. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763837/vehicle-licensing-statistics-notes-definitions.pdf

Table 1.10: Heavy goods and public service vehicle operators in Scotland by licence type and number vehicles ¹

	HGV				PSV
Number of vehicles specified on licence	Restricted	Standard National	Standard International	Total licence holders	Restricted	Standard National	Standard International	Total licence holders
0-2	1,674	816	161	2,651	238	91	15	344
3-5	581	691	162	1,434	-	97	21	118
6-10	276	417	91	784	-	93	36	129
11-20	95	256	53	404	-	56	26	82
21-50	47	174	50	271	-	21	26	47
51-100	12	67	17	96	-	9	8	17
101-200	6	31	9	46	-	3	1	4
201+	1	18	5	24	-	4	7	11
Total	2,692	2,470	548	5,710	238	374	140	752

1. As at December 2019

Source: Figures in previous versions of this table were obtained from VOSA. These figures are are on a differenct basis and have been obtained from the

Traffic Commissioners office: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/2a67d1ee-8f1b-43a3-8bc6-e8772d162a3c/traffic-commissioners-goods-and-public-service-vehicle-operator-licence-records

Table 1.11: The 20 most popular new cars sold in Scotland ¹, 2018 

Position	Make	Range	Number of cars sold	Market share percent
1	FORD	FIESTA	7,002	3.8
2	VAUXHALL	CORSA	6,688	3.6
3	FORD	FOCUS	4,451	2.4
4	VOLKSWAGEN	POLO	4,342	2.3
5	VOLKSWAGEN	GOLF	3,483	1.9
6	VAUXHALL	CROSSLAND X	3,334	1.8
7	MINI	MINI	3,205	1.7
8	NISSAN	QASHQAI	3,130	1.7
9	VAUXHALL	MOKKA X	3,126	1.7
10	RENAULT	CLIO	3,011	1.6
11	FIAT	500	2,726	1.5
12	HYUNDAI	TUCSON	2,690	1.4
13	KIA	SPORTAGE	2,686	1.4
14	VAUXHALL	ASTRA	2,544	1.4
15	FORD	KUGA	2,496	1.3
16	TOYOTA	AYGO	2,437	1.3
17	TOYOTA	YARIS	2,281	1.2
18	RENAULT	CAPTUR	2,199	1.2
19	MERCEDES	A-CLASS	2,131	1.1
20	HYUNDAI	I10	2,091	1.1
		Total top 20 cars	66,053	35.4
		Total all other cars	120,630	64.6
		Total cars sold	186,683	100.0

Source: SMMT - Not National Statistics

1. Figures relate to cars sold by members of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd to customers resident in Scotland. Figures differ from the numbers of new registrations of cars in Table 1.1, as the latter may include cars purchased elsewhere.

Table 1.12:  Road vehicle testing scheme (MOT) ^{1, 8}

	20th May 2018 - 19th May2019	Failures with at least one Dangerous defect	Failures with only Major defects		20th May 2018 - 19th May2019	Failures with at least one Dangerous defect	Failures with only Major defects
Cars 2			thousands	Private Passenger (over 12 seats)			thousands
Total Tests	2,309.8			Total Tests	4.2
Pass with Rectification at Station	109.2			Pass with Rectification at Station	0.2
Fail	710.4	238.2	581.4	Fail	1.1	0.4	0.9
Initial Failure Rate 4	35.5	10.3	25.2	Initial Failure Rate 4	30.7	9.5	21.4
Final Failure Rate 5	30.8			Final Failure Rate 5	26.9
			percent				percent
Body, chassis, structure	5.8	0.5	5.4	Body, chassis, structure	6.4	1.5	5.6
Brakes	12.7	4.0	10.7	Brakes	16.5	4.7	15.0
Identification of the vehicle	0.5	0.0	0.5	Buses and coaches supplementary tests	3.1	0.2	3.0
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	13.3	0.3	13.2	Identification of the vehicle	0.3	-	0.3
Noise, emissions and leaks	4.1	0.1	4.1	Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	13.7	0.4	13.5
Road Wheels	0.4	0.1	0.3	Noise, emissions and leaks	3.7	0.3	3.6
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems	1.3	0.0	1.3	Road Wheels	0.2	0.0	0.1
Speedometer and speed limiter	0.0	0.0	0.0	Seat belt installation check	0.0	-	0.0
Steering	3.1	0.2	2.9	Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems	4.3	0.3	4.1
Suspension	14.5	1.0	14.0	Speedometer and speed limiter	0.5	-	0.5
Tyres	6.9	5.3	1.9	Steering	3.5	0.3	3.3
Visibility	6.0	0.0	6.0	Suspension	9.7	1.1	9.1
				Tyres	3.4	2.5	1.0
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	3.00	0.43	2.56	Visibility	4.8	0.1	4.7
				Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	4.04	0.51	3.53
	20th May 2018 - 19th May2019	Failures with at least one Dangerous defect	Failures with only Major defects		20th May 2018 - 19th May2019	Failures with at least one Dangerous defect	Failures with only Major defects
Motor cycles			thousands	Light goods vehicles 7			thousands
Total Tests	60.7			Total Tests	58.0
Pass with Rectification at Station	2.8			Pass with Rectification at Station	2.6
Fail	5.6	2.4	6.0	Fail	22.5	9.0	16.1
Initial Failure Rate 4	13.8	4.0	9.9	Initial Failure Rate 4	43.1	15.5	27.8
Final Failure Rate 5	9.3			Final Failure Rate 5	38.7
			percent				percent
Identification of the vehicle	0.8	0.0	0.8	Body, chassis, structure	9.0	1.4	8.2
Motorcycle audible warning (Horn)	0.7	0.0	0.7	Brakes	24.6	8.9	21.8
Motorcycle brakes	3.4	1.1	2.6	Identification of the vehicle	0.9	-	0.9
Motorcycle lamps and reflectors	7.3	0.3	7.1	Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	24.5	0.9	24.2
Motorcycle steering	1.3	0.4	0.9	Noise, emissions and leaks	5.5	0.3	5.3
Motorcycle structure and attachments	2.5	0.5	2.1	Road Wheels	0.2	0.1	0.2
Motorcycle suspension	2.1	0.2	2.0	Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems	3.0	0.1	2.9
Motorcycle tyres	2.0	1.7	0.3	Speedometer and speed limiter	0.0	-	0.0
Motorcycle wheels	0.3	0.1	0.1	Steering	5.9	0.5	5.5
				Suspension	16.3	2.3	15.1
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	1.86	0.34	1.51	Tyres	6.0	4.5	1.8
				Visibility	8.9	0.2	8.8
				Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	4.48	0.57	3.91

1.Vehicle numbers are for valid, and completed normal tests only. Retests are excluded.

2.Cars, vans and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats.

3. PRS = Pass with Rectification at Station

4. Initial Failure Rate = (PRS + Failures) / Total Tests

5. Final Failure Rate = Failures / Total Tests

6. Reason for Rejection

7. Over 3,000kg and up to and including 3,500kg.

8. There was a significant change in regulations for the MOT scheme on 20th May 2018. Whilst the basic failure rates can be directly compared, with a recognition of the changes, the defect categories were totally changed, and there is no direct comparison. In addition, new 'Deficiency Categories' were introduced. Dangerous for the most serious issues, and Major for other failure items. Figures are provided here with the new Deficiency Categories.

Table 1.13: Driving licence tests, DVLA receipts¹

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Theory 4									thousand
Applications received	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Theory tests conducted	99	103	99	122	129	190	147	164	149
Theory test passes	65	66	61	67	69	94	76	90	81
									percent
Theory test pass rate	66	64	62	54	54	49	52	55	54
Practical 2,4									thousand
Applications received	132	130	119	126	127	136	143	142	135
Driving tests concluded	126	125	113	124	123	123	140	133	125
Passes	58	59	54	58	59	60	69	65	60
									percent
Pass rate	47	47	47	47	48	48	50	49	48
DVLA receipts									£ million
Vehicle licences 3	463.0	479.0	473.0	479.6	512.5	512.7	..	..	..
Driving licences	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Total	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Source: DVLA and DSA - Not National Statistics

1. Figures relate to the financial year which commences in the specified calendar year.

2. The practical test figures are provisional.

3. The vehicle licence figure does not include refunds issued. DVLA are currently investigating the financial accuracy of these figures and an update for vehicle licences is not available at the moment.

4. These figures are for car licence tests only.

Table 1.14: Practical Driving Test - Pass Rate at Test Centres 2018-19

	Male			Female			Overall
	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate
Aberdeen North (Bridge of Don) (M)	1,577	963	61.1%	2,094	1,076	51.4%	3,671	2,039	55.5%
Aberdeen South (Cove)(M)	1,588	883	55.6%	1,780	857	48.1%	3,368	1,740	51.7%
Airdrie(M)	1,765	854	48.4%	1,934	828	42.8%	3,699	1,682	45.5%
Alness (R)	467	276	59.1%	391	223	57.0%	858	499	58.2%
Arbroath (R)	286	199	69.6%	346	210	60.7%	632	409	64.7%
Ayr(M)	984	499	50.7%	1,052	458	43.5%	2,036	957	47.0%
Ballater (R)	71	57	80.3%	105	67	63.8%	176	124	70.5%
Banff (R)	113	77	68.1%	135	79	58.5%	248	156	62.9%
Bishopbriggs (M)	2,858	1,442	50.5%	2,944	1,356	46.1%	5,802	2,798	48.2%
Buckie (R)	157	94	59.9%	139	75	54.0%	296	169	57.1%
Callander(O)	146	67	45.9%	255	110	43.1%	401	177	44.1%
Campbeltown (R)	45	35	77.8%	62	41	66.1%	107	76	71.0%
Castle Douglas(R)	208	100	48.1%	167	81	48.5%	375	181	48.3%
Crieff (R)	66	51	77.3%	97	67	69.1%	163	118	72.4%
Cumnock(T)	473	293	61.9%	572	315	55.1%	1,045	608	58.2%
Dumbarton(M)	777	419	53.9%	908	428	47.1%	1,685	847	50.3%
Dumfries(M)	782	379	48.5%	850	374	44.0%	1,632	753	46.1%
Dundee(M)	1,994	1,190	59.7%	2,426	1,319	54.4%	4,420	2,509	56.8%
Dunfermline(M)	1,407	697	49.5%	1,633	751	46.0%	3,040	1,448	47.6%
Dunoon (R)	107	63	58.9%	132	76	57.6%	239	139	58.2%
Duns (R )	32	27	84.4%	79	49	62.0%	111	76	68.5%
East Kilbride (T)	666	292	43.8%	1,024	414	40.4%	1,690	706	41.8%
Edinburgh (Currie)(M)	3,076	1,593	51.8%	3,317	1,608	48.5%	6,393	3,201	50.1%
Edinburgh (Musselburgh)(M)	3,251	1,526	46.9%	4,056	1,611	39.7%	7,307	3,137	42.9%
Elgin(M)	899	468	52.1%	1,043	472	45.3%	1,942	940	48.4%
Forfar (R)	285	206	72.3%	310	182	58.7%	595	388	65.2%
Fort William (R)	196	114	58.2%	181	107	59.1%	377	221	58.6%
Fraserburgh(O)	181	117	64.6%	297	171	57.6%	478	288	60.3%
Gairloch (R)	19	18	94.7%	18	14	77.8%	37	32	86.5%
Galashiels(M)	463	258	55.7%	431	241	55.9%	894	499	55.8%
Girvan (T)	113	66	58.4%	122	72	59.0%	235	138	58.7%
Glasgow (Anniesland)(M)	4,914	1,977	40.2%	5,143	1,866	36.3%	10,057	3,843	38.2%
Glasgow (Baillieston)(M)	3,059	1,314	43.0%	3,642	1,378	37.8%	6,701	2,692	40.2%
Glasgow (Shieldhall)(M)	3,027	1,183	39.1%	3,284	1,149	35.0%	6,311	2,332	37.0%
Golspie (R)	55	35	63.6%	89	54	60.7%	144	89	61.8%
Grangemouth(M)	1,591	932	58.6%	1,962	999	50.9%	3,553	1,931	54.3%
Grantown-On-Spey (R)	67	34	50.7%	83	45	54.2%	150	79	52.7%
Greenock(M)	841	384	45.7%	1,112	472	42.4%	1,953	856	43.8%
Haddington (R )	505	329	65.1%	603	364	60.4%	1,108	693	62.5%
Hamilton(M)	2,512	1,219	48.5%	2,681	1,207	45.0%	5,193	2,426	46.7%
Hawick (R)	178	112	62.9%	162	97	59.9%	340	209	61.5%
Huntly (R)	134	82	61.2%	165	98	59.4%	299	180	60.2%
Inveraray (R)	30	24	80.0%	39	34	87.2%	69	58	84.1%
Inverness (Longman Drive)	81	29	35.8%	87	32	36.8%	168	61	36.3%
Inverness (Seafield Road)	147	67	45.6%	168	67	39.9%	315	134	42.5%
Inverurie (R )	412	270	65.5%	454	289	63.7%	866	559	64.5%
Irvine (M)	1,971	1,129	57.3%	2,363	1,219	51.6%	4,334	2,348	54.2%
Islay Island (R )	22	19	86.4%	27	18	66.7%	49	37	75.5%
Isle of Mull (R )	8	6	75.0%	18	15	83.3%	26	21	80.8%
Isle of Skye (Broadford) (R)	19	10	52.6%	14	7	50.0%	33	17	51.5%
Isle of Skye (Portree) (R)	59	44	74.6%	85	50	58.8%	144	94	65.3%
Isle of Tiree	..	..	..	..	..	..	7	6	85.7%
Kelso (R)	96	52	54.2%	147	83	56.5%	243	135	55.6%
Kingussie (R)	57	33	57.9%	51	27	52.9%	108	60	55.6%
Kirkcaldy(M)	2,032	1,207	59.4%	2,339	1,148	49.1%	4,371	2,355	53.9%
Kyle of Lochalsh (R)	37	19	51.4%	45	22	48.9%	82	41	50.0%
Lairg (R)	14	6	42.9%	16	9	56.3%	30	15	50.0%
Lanark(R )	744	438	58.9%	942	494	52.4%	1,686	932	55.3%
Lerwick (R)	202	146	72.3%	222	146	65.8%	424	292	68.9%
Livingston (M)	1,921	938	48.8%	2,430	986	40.6%	4,351	1,924	44.2%
Lochgilphead (R)	78	61	78.2%	71	54	76.1%	149	115	77.2%
Mallaig (R)	13	10	76.9%	9	9	100.0%	22	19	86.4%
Montrose (Broomfield Ind Estate) (R)	264	187	70.8%	346	228	65.9%	610	415	68.0%
Newton Stewart (R)	103	65	63.1%	87	56	64.4%	190	121	63.7%
Oban (R)	155	91	58.7%	152	95	62.5%	307	186	60.6%
Orkney (R)	142	89	62.7%	159	109	68.6%	301	198	65.8%
Paisley(M)	2,642	1,298	49.1%	3,102	1,360	43.8%	5,744	2,658	46.3%
Peebles (R)	125	75	60.0%	144	88	61.1%	269	163	60.6%
Perth (Arran Road)(M)	963	577	59.9%	1,061	505	47.6%	2,024	1,082	53.5%
Peterhead(M)	449	318	70.8%	573	322	56.2%	1,022	640	62.6%
Pitlochry (R)	58	52	89.7%	59	39	66.1%	117	91	77.8%
Rothesay (R)	45	27	60.0%	63	32	50.8%	108	59	54.6%
Stirling(M)	1,543	720	46.7%	1,945	765	39.3%	3,488	1,485	42.6%
Stornoway (R)	149	93	62.4%	229	116	50.7%	378	209	55.3%
Stranraer (R)	128	74	57.8%	162	101	62.3%	290	175	60.3%
Thurso (R)	93	54	58.1%	110	71	64.5%	203	125	61.6%
Ullapool (R)	31	23	74.2%	21	16	76.2%	52	39	75.0%
Wick(M)	176	113	64.2%	150	83	55.3%	326	196	60.1%
ZInverness (Cradlehall Business Park)	828	420	50.7%	892	407	45.6%	1,720	827	48.1%
Scotland	57,918	29,811	51.5%	66,744	30,648	45.9%	124,662	60,459	48.5%

Source: Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency - Not National Statistics

(M) - Main Test Centre

(O) - Outstation

(R) - Remote Driving Test Centre

(T) - Taking Testing to the Customer site

z prefix indicates test centre is now closed

Note:Centres where only one examiner has conducted tests have been removed from the details, though they have been included in the national totals.

Table 1.15: People who hold a full car driving licence ¹ by age

Note: This table has been removed as data are no longer available for Scotland. Latest Scottish estimates are given in table 1.16 although this is based on a different source.

Table 1.16: People who hold a full driving licence 2018

	Age group								All	Sample size
	17-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70-79	80+	17 +
								percentage of the relevant sub-group 1	number
All people:	29	57	73	79	79	77	70	48	70	9,650
by sex:
Men	33	58	76	82	85	86	83	68	76	4,280
Women	25	55	71	76	73	68	59	31	64	5,360
Identified in another way	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	-
Refused	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	-
by annual net household income:
up to £ 10,000 p.a.	**	34	29	52	49	63	53	32	45	930
over £ 10,000, up to £ 15,000	**	38	48	51	58	64	60	43	52	1,530
over £ 15,000, up to £ 20,000	**	49	56	61	62	69	63	47	57	1,480
over £ 20,000, up to £ 25,000	**	48	61	73	76	76	77	52	66	1,160
over £ 25,000, up to £ 30,000	**	70	65	79	81	82	70	59	70	880
over £ 30,000, up to £ 40,000	**	73	84	84	86	84	86	**	81	1,270
over £40,000 - £50,000	**	79	82	87	92	91	98	**	84	920
over £50,000 p.a.	**	76	91	95	96	93	**	**	90	1,080
by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
1 - Most Deprived	**	41	59	54	57	57	42	27	50	1,830
2	**	55	70	73	72	65	61	30	62	1,850
3	**	56	77	84	82	82	71	53	73	2,140
4	**	67	79	86	88	89	79	57	78	2,080
5 - Least Deprived	**	65	83	94	92	89	88	66	83	1,760
by urban / rural classification:
Large urban areas	27	48	65	74	71	69	59	43	61	2,960
Other urban areas	31	63	78	79	77	75	68	44	71	3,230
Accessible small towns	**	73	80	83	81	87	74	49	76	830
Remote small towns	**	60	62	69	88	70	70	59	66	580
Accessible rural areas	**	60	85	90	92	88	86	58	82	1,020
Remote rural areas	**	76	82	89	91	85	84	56	81	1,030
Sample size (age group)	190	1,040	1,420	1,360	1,680	1,660	1,480	820	9,650	9,650

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The interviewer asks whether the person holds a full driving licence (car or motorcycle).  

1. The denominator includes people for whom it was not known, or not recorded, what type of driving licence (if any) was held.  

** Estimates based on smaller sample sizes may be subject to larger levels of variation and therefore may see relatively large fluctuations over time.

Table 1.17: People who hold a full driving licence, 2008-2018 

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
All people											percent of population 1
Age group
17-19	32	25	27	26	28	26	29	26	30	31	29
20-29	56	58	58	54	58	56	56	54	55	55	57
30-39	78	77	76	77	75	74	73	72	73	73	73
40-49	83	80	81	80	80	80	82	82	81	81	79
50-59	78	78	78	78	79	80	79	78	81	81	79
60-69	70	75	72	74	73	74	74	76	76	77	77
70-79	53	55	54	57	59	60	61	62	63	67	70
80+	31	37	37	35	37	41	40	43	43	47	48
All aged 17+	68	68	68	67	68	68	69	68	69	70	70
Sample size	12,267	12,447	12,361	12,801	9,828	9,838	9,720	9,340	9,570	9,760	9,650
Men
Age group
17-19	32	28	28	33	35	24	32	28	36	42	33
20-29	62	61	64	58	59	60	59	55	58	57	58
30-39	81	81	80	81	78	78	77	73	78	76	76
40-49	87	86	86	84	86	84	85	85	82	83	82
50-59	84	85	85	87	85	88	85	84	85	85	85
60-69	84	86	84	86	83	86	85	83	83	85	86
70-79	77	78	74	79	79	76	80	76	81	80	83
80+	55	60	59	60	63	64	66	67	65	66	68
All aged 17+	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	73	75	75	76
Sample size	5,289	5,400	5,450	5,515	4,377	4,405	4,410	4,210	4,360	4,520	4,280
Women
Age group
17-19	33	21	25	17	19	29	27	23	26	22	25
20-29	50	56	51	51	57	52	54	53	53	54	55
30-39	76	73	73	73	71	71	69	71	69	71	71
40-49	78	74	76	77	74	76	80	79	80	78	76
50-59	73	71	72	70	75	72	73	72	77	76	73
60-69	57	64	62	63	65	64	65	68	68	70	68
70-79	37	38	40	43	43	48	46	52	50	56	59
80+	16	22	21	19	22	26	23	27	28	34	31
All aged 17+	60	61	60	60	62	61	62	63	63	64	64
Sample size	6,978	7,047	6,911	7,286	5,451	5,433	5,320	5,130	5,210	5,250	5,360

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The interviewer asks whether the person holds a full driving licence (car or motorcycle). 

1. The denominator includes people for whom it was not known, or not recorded, what type of driving licence (if any) was held.  

Note: For some age groups the sample sizes are relatively small and so estimates can be subject to greater fluctuations over time.

Table 1.18: Households with the regular use of a car 

Note: This table has been removed as data are no longer available for Scotland . 

Latest Scottish estimates are given in table 1.19 although this is based on a different source.

Table 1.19: Households with a car available for private use¹, 2008-2018 ²

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Cars available for private use:											percent of households
None	30.2	30.7	30.3	30.1	31.0	30.2	30.8	30.0	29.3	28.1	28.6
1	43.9	43.7	44.0	44.5	43.0	44.0	43.3	43.3	42.1	42.7	42.0
2	21.8	21.5	21.6	21.0	21.3	21.3	21.1	21.7	23.0	23.4	23.7
3+	4.0	4.2	4.1	4.4	4.6	4.6	4.7	5.1	5.6	5.8	5.7
1+	69.8	69.3	69.7	69.9	69.0	69.8	69.2	70.1	70.7	71.9	71.4
2+	25.8	25.6	25.7	25.4	26.0	25.8	25.9	26.8	28.5	29.2	29.4
Sample size	13,821	14,190	14,214	14,358	10,644	10,652	10,630	10,330	10,470	10,680	10,530

1.Source : Scottish Household Survey. Vans are not counted in this table.

2. From 2012 Q4 the question was changed to ask about access to cars / vans instead of just cars.

Table 1.20: Households with a car or van available for private use ¹, 2018

	Number of cars or vans available for private use						Sample size (=100%)
	None	1	2	3 +	1+	2 +
						percent of households
All households:	28.6	42.0	23.7	5.7	71.4	29.4	10,530
by household type:
Single adult	48	46	5	1	52	6	1,940
Small adult	20	36	39	5	80	44	1,630
Single parent	41	48	10	0	59	10	500
Small family	10	40	46	4	90	50	1,230
Large family	7	33	42	18	93	60	530
Large adult	13	25	33	29	87	62	850
Older smaller	14	55	28	3	86	31	1,980
Single pensioner	55	42	2	0	45	3	1,880
by annual net household income:
up to £10,000 p.a.	59	33	7	1	41	8	980
over £ 10,000, up to £ 15,000	54	38	7	1	46	8	1,610
over £ 15,000, up to £ 20,000	38	49	10	2	62	12	1,580
over £ 20,000, up to £ 25,000	28	53	16	3	72	20	1,240
over £ 25,000, up to £ 30,000	17	55	23	6	83	28	970
over £ 30,000, up to £ 40,000	10	47	35	8	90	43	1,420
over £40,000 - £50,000	5	35	50	10	95	60	1,060
over £50,000 p.a.	4	27	53	16	96	69	1,230
by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
1 - Most Deprived	49	37	11	3	51	14	1,960
2	36	43	18	4	64	22	2,060
3	26	43	24	6	74	31	2,330
4	17	43	31	8	83	40	2,300
5 - Least Deprived	14	44	35	7	86	42	1,880
by urban / rural classification:
Large urban areas	39	40	18	3	61	21	3,220
Other urban areas	28	42	25	5	72	30	3,580
Accessible small towns	22	46	25	7	78	33	930
Remote small towns	28	48	20	5	72	24	600
Accessible rural areas	12	40	35	13	88	48	1,120
Remote rural areas	15	45	32	8	85	40	1,080

1.Source : Scottish Household Survey.

Table 1.21: Number of blue badges¹ on issue, time series and 2019 breakdown

											Badges on issue as at 31st March 2019:
Council	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Organisations	Individuals - Automatic3	Individuals - Discretionary4
Aberdeen City	8,032	7,887	5,183	6,552	6,643	6,908	6,863	6,820	102	3,263	3,455
Aberdeenshire5	13,358	12,166	8,155	10,685	10,210	9,838	9,604	9,252	135	4,692	4,425
Angus	5,581	4,892	5,451	4,982	4,845	5,018	5,138	5,117	85	2,646	2,386
Argyll & Bute	4,314	3,867	3,433	3,934	4,114	4,213	4,336	4,344	107	1,904	2,333
Clackmannanshire	2,518	2,377	2,572	2,128	2,161	2,233	2,226	2,227	14	1,303	910
Dumfries & Galloway	3,369	3,212	3,096	9,236	9,337	8,857	9,014	8,863	63	4,256	4,544
Dundee City	6,766	5,776	5,252	5,292	5,452	5,619	5,916	6,033	90	3,198	2,745
East Ayrshire	6,787	6,098	5,735	6,595	6,427	6,617	6,329	6,134	64	3,419	2,651
East Dunbartonshire	5,175	2,905	4,847	4,473	4,661	4,730	4,794	4,772	63	1,978	2,731
East Lothian	4,328	5,131	5,293	4,680	4,712	4,855	4,918	4,934	10	2,070	2,854
East Renfrewshire	5,756	4,375	4,020	4,307	4,322	4,581	4,645	4,643	38	1,635	2,970
Edinburgh, City of 10	23,470	17,502	16,922	15,264	14,868	14,444	14,396	14,107	335	6,340	7,432
Eilean Siar	918	961	922	863	902	939	964	989	12	487	490
Falkirk	8,108	8,256	7,332	6,877	6,899	7,104	7,254	7,404	69	3,817	3,518
Fife	21,021	19,750	18,877	18,646	17,299	17,931	17,869	17,788	110	9,697	7,981
Glasgow, City of 6	27,317	23,692	19,350	21,784	21,642	21,161	21,627	21,531	274	12,204	9,053
Highland 7	12,967	9,938	10,855	9,164	9,215	9,371	9,521	9,470	108	4,391	4,971
Inverclyde	5,183	5,099	4,955	4,439	4,283	4,282	4,367	4,341	91	2,002	2,248
Midlothian	4,673	3,164	4,716	4,416	4,332	4,237	4,345	4,512	29	2,090	2,393
Moray	4,485	4,033	3,687	3,608	3,669	3,699	3,825	3,863	10	1,897	1,956
North Ayrshire	7,379	6,040	6,157	7,086	7,196	7,343	7,534	7,430	63	3,741	3,626
North Lanarkshire	18,013	16,957	18,352	16,453	15,741	16,537	16,225	16,586	71	9,779	6,736
Orkney Islands 8	1,281	1,108	1,050	1,119	1,096	1,100	1,100	1,114	29	442	643
Perth & Kinross	6,169	5,975	6,814	6,542	6,651	6,831	6,779	6,714	121	2,587	4,006
Renfrewshire	8,358	7,873	8,326	7,730	7,838	8,205	7,902	7,744	118	4,573	3,053
Scottish Borders 9	6,987	6,456	5,980	4,961	4,889	5,062	5,161	5,086	39	2,187	2,860
Shetland Islands	381	800	953	878	892	974	1,005	1,044	16	403	625
South Ayrshire	6,356	5,212	5,475	5,537	5,703	5,785	5,806	5,707	72	2,688	2,947
South Lanarkshire	15,274	15,602	15,826	16,218	16,218	15,796	15,488	15,221	88	8,373	6,760
Stirling	4,273	4,374	4,082	3,918	3,892	3,859	4,027	4,028	45	1,747	2,236
West Dunbartonshire	4,625	4,221	4,936	4,548	4,546	4,652	4,676	4,554	58	2,745	1,751
West Lothian	9,823	9,529	9,615	8,912	8,873	8,641	8,880	8,526	121	5,238	3,167
Total 9	263,045	245,035	228,219	231,827	229,528	231,422	232,534	230,898	2,650	117,792	110,456

Source:Scottish Government - Not National Statistics

1. Blue Badges for display on motor vehicles used by disabled persons were introduced on 1 April 2000.

2. Totals relate to the number of badges on issue as at 31st March that year. Data prior to 2008 not available. 

3. The automatic category includes badges issued to individuals in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, certain levels of Personal Independence Payment, a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement,a lump sum (tariffs 1-8) of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, or to blind or registered blind people. (Not subject to further assessment.)

4. Badges issued in the discretionary category to people with a substantial permanent or temporary disability who are unable or virtually unable to walk or pose a risk to themselves or others in traffic or who have difficulty using parking meters (Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 as amended).(May be subject to further assessment.)

5. Aberdeenshire introduced an electronic data capture system in 2010; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.

6. Glasgow changed data capture process in 2011; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.

7. Highland Council, in April 2010, introduced a fee for the first time which may have contributed to the decline in number of badges issued.

8. Orkney introduced an electronic system in 2009; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.

9. Scottish Borders data was reviewed in 2012.Data is not available for previous years and is therefore excluded from the totals.Scottish Borders is included in the 2012 totals

10. City of Edinburgh Council advised of error in 2013 total.Revised figure down from 27,309 to17,502

 

Table 1.22: Motor vehicle offences recorded by the police by type of offence

Discontinuities in the table

2013-14 is the first full reporting year since the establishment of Police Scotland. As a result, data is no longer returned by the eight legacy police force areas and instead comes from one central unit within Police Scotland, using their new performance management reporting tool. To ensure that the dataset produced from this new system is consistent with data returned from legacy police forces, an extensive quality assurance exercise has been carried out to closely compare the data held by the Scottish Government with that extracted from the new force system.

This exercise has identified a number of anomalies affecting comparability of the time series resulting in breaks in the series. Vertical lines between figures represent these breaks and comparisons should not be directly made between the two series. The Scottish Government is investigating these issues further and seeking a resolution. Should this be possible, the web tables on the Transport Scotland website will be updated with revised figures for the table below.Further information about these discontinuities can be found in the Technical report, entitled Recorded Crime: Comparability of Police Scotland and Legacy Force Data, available from http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport

Table 1.22: Motor vehicle offences recorded by the police by type of offence

Type of offence	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19
Serious Driving Offences
Dangerous driving	2,567	2,387	2,422	2,476	2,957	2,428	2,881	2,875	2,854	2,897
Careless driving	8,506	7,452	7,431	8,054	8,567	8,345	9,176	8,818	7,868	8,092
Drunk Driving of which:	8,504	7,563	7,445	6,433	6,079	5,218	5,458	5,917	5,863	5,847
Driving while unfit through drink/drugs	488	502	584	459	490	450	540	653	719	771
In charge while unfit through drink/drugs	78	59	63	52	92	54	71	123	137	148
Driving with excess blood alcohol	5,840	4,979	4,889	4,223	3,819	3,161	3,239	3,465	3,262	3,201
In charge with excess blood alcohol	471	484	433	445	419	390	364	331	333	333
Failing to provide breath specimen at the roadside	643	633	577	495	517	477	509	569	602	591
Failing to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at a police station	984	906	899	759	742	686	735	776	810	803
Failing to stop after accident	6,552	6,586	5,955	6,804	5,921	5,574	7,660	8,705	14,694	14,758
Driving while disqualified	2,048	1,640	1,466	1,311	1,208	898	1,162	1,371	1,414	1,285
Speeding Offences
Speeding in restricted areas	50,788	50,890	53,068	62,188	38,400	29,316	23,145	13,395	10,685	10,371
Other speeding offences2,3	63,438	63,948	73,078	62,079	44,350	31,937	31,593	21,360	18,737	17,194
Signal and Direction Offences
Traffic direction offences	31,281	34,195	31,786	34,404	26,539	16,307	11,253	5,981	4,496	4,133
Pedestrian crossing offences	4,137	3,944	4,317	4,537	3,776	2,268	1,644	1,181	869	785
Lighting, Construction and Use Offences
Lighting offences2	12,791	8,910	10,120	10,934	9,284	7,043	5,029	2,264	1,615	1,553
Construction and use regulations2	13,452	12,271	12,681	11,884	11,639	8,550	8,041	6,121	5,434	5,554
Documentation Offences
Vehicle excise licence offences 4	14,688	11,673	12,710	11,812	6,601	2,634	3,098	4,664	3,792	176
No test certificate2	11,836	10,788	11,650	12,380	18,546	15,528	14,609	14,725	15,145	14,020
Driving licence offences2	9,051	7,424	7,264	7,474	9,492	6,396	6,555	7,018	6,311	5,791
Third party insurance offences2	20,610	17,860	17,407	17,228	18,998	13,747	14,407	16,806	15,945	14,349
Registration/identification offences	5,397	4,520	3,879	3,375	2,934	1,652	1,639	1,394	1,264	1,227
Other Offences
Failure to provide information to identify driver2	1,069	1,206	1,230	971	1,528	1,394	1,474	1,536	1,348	1,296
Tachograph etc offences	3,779	2,437	1,972	2,025	1,635	1,560	1,682	1,268	950	569
Seat belt offences2	29,324	29,171	31,505	33,047	37,880	15,619	8,059	4,502	3,134	2,921
Mobile phone offences	26,146	27,736	29,110	30,875	35,764	17,978	10,085	6,709	3,173	2,895
Parking offences	332	171	177	158	143	105	163	99	76	78
Other offences	2,787	2,403	2,528	2048	1,850	1,488	1,484	1,459	1,348	1,314
Total offences1	329,083	315,175	329,201	332,497	294,091	195,985	170,297	138,168	127,015	117,105

Source: Recorded Crime, Scottish Government

Notes:

1. The full time series is no longer comparable, the vertical lines in the table represents the break in the series. Direct comparison between the period on either side of the break in the series should not be made. Further information can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport

2. A number of historic figures in these categories have been revised as a result of the quality assurance process noted above and will not match the figures presented in earlier editions of STS, further information can be found at the link in note 1.

3. Includes motorway and clearway offences, which previously appeared as a separate category under Other offences.

4. The number of Vehicle Excise Licence Offences recorded decreased from 3,792 in 2017-18 to 176 in 2018-19. This was largely due to standardisation of practice across Police Scotland divisions in November 2017, whereby the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (rather than the police) took primacy in dealing with these offences.

Table 1.23: Households with a car or van available by gender, 2011

	None	1	2+	Total Number (=100%)
			percent of people in households
All people in households:	23	40	37	5,196,386
Men	20	40	39	2,521,307
Women	25	40	35	2,675,079

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland

Table 1.24: Households with a car or van available, 2011

	None	1	2+	Total Number (=100%)
			percent of households
All households:	31	42	27	2,372,777
by selected household type:
Single adult (aged under 65)	48	48	4	511,447
Married or cohabiting family with dependent children	8	36	56	409,369
Married or cohabiting family with no children	11	44	44	413,022
Single parent	43	45	12	263,360
All students	63	27	10	20,928
Single pensioner	64	35	1	311,867
by tenure:
Owned outright	8	38	54	652,675
Owned with a mortgage or loan	6	38	56	1,585,110
Social rented (council)	49	38	13	372,920
Social rented (other)	53	37	10	317,812
Private rented (private landlord or letting agency)	41	40	18	421,264

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland

Table 1.25: Households with a car or van available by disability and ethnicity, 2011

	None	1	2+	Total Number (=100%)
			percent of people in households
All people in households:	23	40	37	5,196,386
by disability:
Day-to-day activites limited a lot	46	40	14	472,795
Day-to-day activites limited a little	34	42	23	523,272
Day-to-day activites not limited	19	40	42	4,200,319
by ethnicity:
White: Total	22	40	38	4,995,665
White: Scottish	22	40	38	4,382,131
White: Other British	16	41	43	403,604
White: Irish	27	40	33	52,086
White: Gypsy/Traveller	35	41	24	4,029
White: Polish	31	52	17	60,324
White: Other White	32	42	26	93,491
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	26	42	32	19,068
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Total	27	38	35	133,506
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British	16	36	48	48,968
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British	29	38	33	31,442
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British	32	41	27	3,710
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British	36	36	28	29,596
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Other Asian	36	44	19	19,790
African	51	36	13	28,170
Caribbean or Black	39	39	22	6,279
Other ethnic groups: Total	34	43	23	13,698
Other ethnic groups: Arab, Arab Scottish or Arab British	36	42	21	8,959
Other ethnic groups: Other Ethnic Group	31	43	25	4,739

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland