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Taxi Statistics UK

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Taxi Statistics UK

According to NimbleFins analysis of data from the Department for Transport, in the ten years leading up to 2023, the number of taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) on the road in the UK has increased by a third. Powered largely by the rise of cab-hailing apps like Uber, there are now more vehicles carrying paying passengers than at any other time in British history.

We’ve analyzed the past ten years worth of data sourced from the Office of National Statistics to see how the market has evolved, breaking down vehicle types and driver licencing both nationally and regionally.

Number of Taxis in England

In 2023, there were 289,393 total taxis and PHV’s licenced to operate in England. This represents a roughly 33% increase in the numbers licenced in the past ten years. While PHV licencing has continued to accelerate (growing by over 90,000 in the ten years to 2023, representing growth of 64%), driven by the growth of companies like Uber and Bolt, taxi licencing has started to decline, down nearly 20,000 in ten years, a drop of 25%.

YearTaxisPHV’sTotal
201376,600141,800218,300
201579,500158,300237,800
201775,400202,300277,700
201872,800211,900284,700
201970,600221,400292,000
202067,900230,900298,800
202158,320192,786251,106
202257,991202,569260,560
202357,225232,168289,393
Chart showing number of taxis and PHV’s registered in England
Combined Taxi/PHV registrations have increased by over 70,000 in ten years

Number of Taxis in London

There were around 114,900 taxis and private hire vehicles in London. This is almost a 90% increase in total numbers since 2005. Like the rest of the country, PHV licencing has continued to grow rapidly—adding over 33,000 licenced PHV’s since 2015.

Taxi licencing, however, has shown rapid signs of decline, down 3,500 in the last 5 years. There’s no doubt that the growing popularity of ride-sharing apps has put the squeeze on black cab drivers.

YearTaxisPHV’sTotal
201322,20049,90072,000
201522,50062,80085,300
201721,30087,817109,100
201821,02688,413109,400
201920,13688,113108,200
202018,96195,955114,900
202113,42377,52990,952
202214,62580,49595,120
202315,12089,575104,695
Chart showing number of taxis and PHVs registered in London
PHV registrations in London have increased by 80% in ten years.

It's probably fair to say that London has led the UK-wide trend in the declining popularity of taxis, with a number of popular taxi and ride-sharing apps available to residents.

Number of Black Cabs

The LEVC is now the most popular black cab in the UK. As of September 2023, thee were 8,904 LEVCs licensed in Great Britain, followed extremely closely by 8,874 TX4s. Next most numerous are TXIIs, with just 420 registered, and 230 TX1s. Only 33 Metrocabs are still licensed to drive.

Types of Black Cabs in the UKNumber
LEVC8,908
TX48,874
TXII420
TX1230
Metrocab33

In addition, some black cabs are Mercedes Vitos. There are over 100,000 of these licensed in Great Britain, but they aren't all operating as black cabs.

How many taxis are there in each region of England?

Wheelchair Accessible

London is by far and away England's leader in wheelchair accessibility, with local licensing authority Transport for London mandating that all taxis must be wheelchair accessible. PHVs, popular with lift-hailing app drivers, lag behind considerably—probably as most PHV vehicles are non-modified road vehicles, like a Toyota Prius.

RegionWheelchair Accessible TaxisWheelchair Accessible PHV’sTotal Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles
North East7142941,008
North West4,7166475,363
Yorkshire and the Humber1,6464772,123
East Midlands1,3014211,722
West Midlands2,8505593,409
East1,6408642,504
London15,12045115,571
South East2,2029753,177
South West1,2743971,671
England38,9004,70043,600
Chart showing number of wheelchair accessible taxis and PHVs registered in England per 1,000 people
London comfortably leads the way in wheelchair accessibility, with nearly 20,000 vehicles wheelchair friendly

Total Taxis/Vehicles

Unsurprisingly, London again leads the way, with well over double the number of taxis and triple the number of PHVs as the next closest regions. The North East has under 10% of the total number of taxis and PHVs, which speaks to the capital's affinity for fast and convenient transport.

RegionTotal TaxisTotal PHVsTotal Vehicles
North East3,2747,15010,424
North West7,41427,25734,671
Yorkshire and the Humber3,46119,33222,793
East Midlands4,3858,94813,333
West Midlands4,29837,36541,663
East5,65613,51319,169
London19,00096,000115,000
South East8,41818,97127,389
South West5,19910,05715,256
England57,225232,168289,393
Chart showing number of total taxis and PHVs registered in England
London again takes first spot, with 115,000 taxis and PHVs registered in 2023

How many taxi drivers are there in England

There are around 365,000 licenced taxi and private hire drivers in England as of 2020. This is made up of roughly 130,000 taxi drivers and 315,000 PHV drivers (keep in mind that some licensing authorities allow drivers to hold both, or offer combined licences). This represents over a 50% increase in the number of registered drivers since 2005.

YearTaxi LicencesPHV LicencesTotal Licences
2013131,700223,700285,800
2015133,600235,700297,200
2017138,900295,800356,000
2018137,900303,800361,400
2019135,819309,105362,700
2020131,194315,028364,900
2021123,634296,787420,421
2022116,054290,375406,429
2023114,298309,482423,780
Chart showing number of drivers with a taxi or PHV licence in England
There are over 420,000 licenced taxi and PHV drivers in England

How many taxi drivers are there in London?

There are just under 105,000 licenced taxi and PHV drivers in London. This is made up of roughly 15,000 taxi drivers and 90,000 PHV drivers. Unlike other licencing authorities, Transport for London requires drivers to obtain separate licences for each, meaning a PHV driver couldn’t just step behind the wheel of a traditional black cab and vice versa.

YearTaxi LicencesPHV LicencesTotal Licences
201724,500117,700142,200
202022,400111,600134,000
202315,12089,575104,695

How many accidents do London taxis have per year?

In the first three quarters of 2023, London-based taxi and PHV drivers were involved in an average of 970 collisions. Of these, 619 collisions involved a taxi and 351 involved a PHV.

Overall, give there are around 105,000 taxis and PHVs in London, the accident rate for taxis and PHVs averages to 9.3 collisions per 1,000 vehicles.

The accident rate appears to be much larger for taxis than PHVs. With 619 collisions and 15,120 registered vehicles in London, taxis have an accident rate of 40.9 collisions per 1,000 vehicles in the first three quarters of 2023. The rate for PHVs is only 3.9 collisions per 1,000 vehicles. Perhaps the large discrepancy is driven by taxis logging more miles per vehicle.

London Taxi & PHV Collisions# Collisions# Registered Vehicles# Collisions per 1,000 Registered Vehicles
Taxi61915,12040.9
Private Hire35189,5753.9
Taxi + PHV970104,6959.3

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The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.