The following information is derived from published data on vehicle registration and road transport fuel consumption across the UK.
Vehicle Registrations (Q3 2023): Department for Transport
- By the end of Q3 2023 there were a total of 306,200 registered vehicles in County Durham, up 19.4% from 2009. Across England the number of registered vehicles increased by 17.9%,
- Nearly half of these registered vehicles were diesel cars of vans (47.6%),
- The number of registered Ultra-low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) in the county is low at around 4,600, representing just 1.5% of all registrations in County Durham. Across England this proportion is 3.6% of all registrations and the proportion has doubled between 2019 and 2023.
Road Transport Fuel Consumption (2020): Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (DBEIS – 2021)
- 29.7% of fuel consumption in County Durham is by petrol cars with diesel cars accounting for 26.2% of all fuel consumption in 2021. Across the North East these figures are 34.1% and 27.7% respectively, (England: 31.7% and 26.1% respectively),
- HGV’s accounted for 20.1% of fuel consumption compared to 15.1% across the North East in 2021 and 21.4% across England,
- Busses account for 3.9% of fuel consumed in County Durham compared to 4.2% across the North East and 2.2% across England.
Vehicle Registrations/Road Transport Fuel Consumption – Summary