Average CO2 Emissions per Car in the UK

We've analysed data from the Department for Transport to learn about car emissions in the UK today, and how trends are changing. Find out about per car CO2 emissions, annual emissions per car, and emissions of new cars today.

In this article

Average CO2 Emissions per Car UK

In the UK, average CO2 emissions per car are 132.0 grams per km (or 211.2 grams per mile), according to latest 2023 data from the Department for Transport. Carbon dioxide emissions per car steadily declined every year since 2001, decreasing by around 2.4 g/km each year. Overall, average per car emissions dropped 22% over that 15 year time period (from 169.5 g/km in 2008 to 132 k/km in 2023).

The data displayed here represents Great Britain only from 2008 - 2013 and the UK from 2014 - 2023.

Average CO2 Emissions Per Car Per Year UK

Considering the average car drives 6,600 miles per year in the UK, the average car releases and estimated 1,393,920 grams of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Average CO2 Emissions in New Cars UK

In terms of newly registered cars only, average carbon dioxide emissions of cars registered for the first time were 109.3g/km in 2023, down from 172.6 g/km in 2003—a drop of 37% over 20 years. On a per mile basis, the average new car now emits around 174.9 grams per mile.

While new car emissions have declined overall in the past twenty years, emissions in new cars had actually increased in 2018-2020. However, since then the figures have reached a new low of 109.3g/km or 174.9g/mile in 2023, as you can see below.

Most Common Car Emissions Bands

It's also interesting to look at how vehicles in the UK are distributed across the range of emission bands, and how the trends are changing. As you can see below, 24.4% of new cars fall into the 111 - 130 g/km CO2 emissions band in the UK, making this the most common emissions band for cars purchased today. However, there is a tremendous increase in the percentage of cars emitting only 0 g/km (16.4% of new cars in Q4 2023, up from 11.4% in 2021 and 1.9% in 2019), and also a decent proportion in the 2nd lowest band of 1-50g/km (8.9% of new cars at Q4 2023).

The data illustrates how a higher proportion of new cars falls into lower emission categories compared to all registered cars, which highlights the trend towards lower-emission cars in the UK market today. As you can see, the trend is towards low emissions cars including some of the best electric cars (e.g., Nissan Leaf, Tesla, etc.) which produce zero carbon emissions.

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