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Vehicles licensed and traffic volume in Scotland

Vehicles licensed in Scotland
LMV trend 2021

The graph above shows trends in licensed motor vehicles in Scotland since 1975, illustrating the steady rise in vehicles on Scotland's roads. In 1975, there were over 1.3 million vehicles licensed in Scotland and by 2021 that figure had more than doubled to over three million vehicles – a rise of 135%. The number of Electric and Hybrid Electric vehicles has increased in recent years to 108,000 in 2021, accounting for 3.5% of all licensed vehicles.  

Traffic volume trends for Scotland
Traffic trends Scotland 2021Traffic volume, as measured by vehicle kilometres driven on all Scottish roads, rose steadily from 2000-2019. However, in 2020, traffic volumes dropped steeply as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, but rebounded upwards in 2021 with the easing of restrictions. 

Notes

See Scottish Transport Statistics for more detail.

Further reading under ‘Traffic volume’