This publication has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this publication reflect some of the impacts of the COVID-19 situation.
Note: The data are estimates created by combining different data sources. Differential traffic patterns caused by COVID-19 may have affected the assumptions from which estimates for this time period are derived. More information on the methodology can be found in the Background Notes.
Figure 5.1 shows the average vehicles kilometres travelled by vehicle type in 2021.
Private cars accounted for over 78% of the total number of licensed vehicles and 72% of the total distance travelled in 2021. On average, each private car travelled 13,436 kilometres in 2021, a decrease of 18% compared with 2019 (pre COVID-19 pandemic).
The average annual vehicle kilometres travelled was higher for diesel cars compared to petrol cars.
| Table 5.1 Road traffic volumes of national fleet by vehicle type and type of fuel, 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| Petrol | Diesel | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
| Vehicle type | Vehicles | km (million) | Average km | Vehicles | km (million) | Average km | Vehicles | km (million) | Average km | Vehicles | km (million) | Average km | |||
| Private cars | 830,597 | 8,076 | 9,723 | 1,300,122 | 20,818 | 16,012 | 118,197 | 1,322 | 11,185 | 2,248,916 | 30,216 | 13,436 | |||
| Goods vehicles | 688 | 12 | 17,189 | 379,690 | 8,769 | 23,096 | 1767 | 31 | 17,469 | 382,144 | 8,812 | 23,059 | |||
| Motorcycles | 45,611 | 110 | 2,418 | 98 | 0 | 2,806 | 143 | 0 | 2,908 | 45,853 | 111 | 2,421 | |||
| Tractors and machinery | 390 | 4 | 11,327 | 86,049 | 1,248 | 14,506 | 30 | 0 | 8,270 | 86,469 | 1,253 | 14,489 | |||
| Small PSVs | 836 | 18 | 20,950 | 14,498 | 366 | 25,239 | 2,774 | 78 | 28,041 | 18,108 | 461 | 25,470 | |||
| Large PSVs | 5 | 0 | 20,002 | 10,534 | 256 | 24,301 | 101 | 4 | 42,275 | 10,639 | 260 | 24,469 | |||
| Exempt vehicles | 5,775 | 63 | 10,971 | 22,148 | 291 | 13,158 | 2,011 | 26 | 12,878 | 29,933 | 381 | 12,717 | |||
| Other vehicles | 26,732 | 85 | 3,187 | 52,461 | 298 | 5,685 | 149 | 1 | 4,232 | 79,342 | 384 | 4,841 | |||
| Total | 910,634 | 8,369 | 9,190 | 1,865,600 | 32,047 | 17,178 | 125,171 | 1,462 | 11,681 | 2,901,404 | 41,878 | 14,434 | |||
| Source: CSO | |||||||||||||||
| 1 Vehicle population represents annual average for each year | |||||||||||||||
| 2 The totals on this table may vary slightly due to rounding | |||||||||||||||
| 3 Vehicle kilometre estimates and average kilometre estimates for motorcycles, tractors and machinery maybe unreliable as minimal odometer data is available for these categories of vehicles | |||||||||||||||
| 4 Vehicle kilometre estimates and average kilometre estimates for private cars less than four years old are based on the extrapolated trends of older private cars (private cars less than 4 years are not subject to the NCT) | |||||||||||||||
Goods vehicle traffic volumes in 2021 have exceeded 2019 volumes as traffic for goods vehicles was less impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. On average, each goods vehicle travelled 23,059 kilometres in 2021, an increase of 4% compared with 2019.
More detailed statistics on Road Traffic Volumes can be found under “Data”.
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