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Average Age of Cars in Great Britain
In many developed economies like the UK, US, Australia and the rest of the EU, the average age of vehicles on the road has increased over the last decade. This is due to a number of factors, such as longer usable lives as car technology and manufacturing processes continue to improve, plus new car sales slumped with the financial crisis of 2008 and again during the pandemic in 2020.
Britain also is seeing consumers driving fewer miles per year which generally means cars can last longer. The NimbleFins car experts have analysed data from released in 2023 from the Department for Transport to see how the average age of cars on the road in Great Britain has changed over time. Here's what we found.
Average Age of Cars in Great Britain and the UK
We found that the average age of cars in Great Britain and the UK in 2022 was 8.8 years old. With data for Great Britain going back to 1994, we calculated this age is 31.5% older than the average age of cars over the past nearly 30 years. This significant increase can be explained in large part by a few factors: high car sales in the early 2000’s, a subsequent drop in car sales both leading up to and following the financial crisis of 2008 and the pandemic, plus new technologies helping cars to last longer.
| 0-1 Years | 1-2 Years | 2-3 Years | 3-4 Years | 4-6 Years | 6-13 Years | 13+ Years | Unknown Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 8.1% | 7.7% | 6.9% | 6.7% | 18.0% | 44.3% | 6.3% | 2.0% |
| 1995 | 8.1% | 8.2% | 7.6% | 6.6% | 14.8% | 45.8% | 6.9% | 2.0% |
| 1996 | 8.2% | 7.9% | 7.8% | 7.1% | 12.6% | 46.0% | 8.3% | 2.0% |
| 1997 | 8.6% | 8.0% | 7.7% | 7.4% | 13.0% | 44.1% | 9.1% | 2.0% |
| 1998 | 8.7% | 8.4% | 7.9% | 7.4% | 14.0% | 41.9% | 9.4% | 2.2% |
| 1999 | 8.6% | 8.6% | 8.3% | 7.6% | 14.4% | 40.6% | 9.6% | 2.3% |
| 2000 | 8.8% | 8.5% | 8.5% | 8.0% | 14.6% | 39.5% | 9.7% | 2.3% |
| 2001 | 9.6% | 8.6% | 8.2% | 8.1% | 15.0% | 38.2% | 10.0% | 2.3% |
| 2002 | 9.7% | 9.3% | 8.3% | 7.8% | 15.4% | 36.9% | 10.2% | 2.3% |
| 2003 | 9.3% | 9.5% | 9.0% | 7.9% | 15.3% | 36.9% | 9.7% | 2.4% |
| 2004 | 8.8% | 9.1% | 9.3% | 8.7% | 15.2% | 37.8% | 8.8% | 2.4% |
| 2005 | 8.2% | 8.8% | 8.9% | 9.0% | 16.2% | 38.5% | 8.1% | 2.4% |
| 2006 | 7.7% | 8.2% | 8.7% | 8.7% | 17.3% | 39.2% | 7.9% | 2.3% |
| 2007 | 7.7% | 7.7% | 8.1% | 8.4% | 17.2% | 40.6% | 8.0% | 2.3% |
| 2008 | 6.9% | 7.9% | 7.8% | 7.9% | 16.8% | 42.4% | 8.2% | 2.1% |
| 2009 | 6.6% | 7.0% | 7.9% | 7.6% | 16.2% | 44.1% | 8.6% | 2.0% |
| 2010 | 6.6% | 6.5% | 6.9% | 7.7% | 15.2% | 45.7% | 9.2% | 2.0% |
| 2011 | 6.3% | 6.6% | 6.5% | 6.8% | 15.1% | 46.9% | 9.9% | 1.9% |
| 2012 | 6.6% | 6.3% | 6.6% | 6.3% | 14.3% | 47.4% | 10.8% | 1.8% |
| 2013 | 7.3% | 6.5% | 6.2% | 6.3% | 12.8% | 47.3% | 11.9% | 1.7% |
| 2014 | 7.8% | 7.1% | 6.3% | 5.8% | 12.2% | 45.5% | 13.5% | 1.6% |
| 2015 | 8.1% | 7.6% | 6.9% | 6.0% | 11.7% | 42.9% | 15.3% | 1.5% |
| 2016 | 8.1% | 7.9% | 7.4% | 6.6% | 11.5% | 40.5% | 16.6% | 1.4% |
| 2017 | 7.4% | 8.0% | 7.8% | 7.1% | 12.3% | 38.2% | 17.3% | 1.8% |
| 2018 | 6.9% | 7.4% | 7.8% | 7.4% | 13.4% | 37.1% | 18.1% | 1.7% |
| 2019 | 6.7% | 6.9% | 7.3% | 7.5% | 14.3% | 36.8% | 18.9% | 1.6% |
| 2020 | 4.8% | 6.7% | 6.8% | 7.0% | 15.0% | 37.8% | 20.5% | 1.5% |
| 2021 | 4.9% | 4.8% | 6.6% | 6.6% | 14.6% | 39.8% | 21.2% | 1.5% |
| 2022 | 4.8% | 4.8% | 4.7% | 6.5% | 13.7% | 41.7% | 22.5% | 1.4% |
Note: data above reflects GB through 2013, then UK figures from 2014 through 2022.
This trend of increasing average car ages over the last few years in Great Britain and the UK can be attributed to several factors. First, consumers are driving less—fewer miles means less wear and tear on cars. Second, cars are generally becoming more reliable, aging more gracefully than they did in the past. And finally, car owners are perhaps becoming more budget-conscious or keen to avoid falling into debt, holding off a bit longer before upgrading to a newer model.
The UK is not the only country with an aging car population. Other developed countries are seeing a similar drift. For instance, the average age of cars in the EU as a whole was 12 years in 2023, up from 8.4 years in 2007.
More Brits are Driving Older Cars
While cars aged older than 13 years old make up only a small(ish) percentage of the total vehicle population in Great Britain, our data team noticed that the number of car owners choosing to hold on to their cars beyond 13 years old has increased steadily from only 6.3% in 1994 to 23.2%% in 2022. The number of cars aged 13 years old or older in Great Britain has increased fivefold since 1994, a dramatic rise with more than 7.6 million cars older than 13 years of age on the road today.
| How Many Older Cars Aged 13+ Years are OTR in GB? | Number | Percentage of All Cars |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 4,221,790 | 13.8% |
| 2015 | 4,863,120 | 15.6% |
| 2016 | 5,379,560 | 16.9% |
| 2017 | 5,756,693 | 17.9% |
| 2018 | 6,078,378 | 18.7% |
| 2019 | 6,415,524 | 19.5% |
| 2020 | 6,908,624 | 21.1% |
| 2021 | 7,206,148 | 21.9% |
| 2022 | 7,686,869 | 23.2% |
