Driving licenses and access to vehicles
Published
1. Main facts and figures
-
in 2021, 58% of black people had a full driving licence, compared with 79% of white people
-
33% of black people had no access to a car or van, compared with 16% of white people and 17% of Asian people
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of people aged 17 and over in England who:
-
had a full driving licence
-
lived in households with access to a car or van
A full driving licence is valid in England, Scotland and Wales and allows people to drive a car, motorcycle, scooter or moped.
The data includes people who were disqualified from driving but still had a full licence.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number and are calculated using unrounded figures.
Not included in the data
Percentages based on fewer than 100 people or 300 trips have not been included in the data. This is because the numbers are too small to make any reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the following 5 aggregated groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- other
This means percentages are shown for these groups as a whole. This is to make sure group sizes are big enough to make reliable generalisations.
The data for ‘All ethnic groups’ includes people who did not give their ethnicity – this was 0.05% in the 5 years to 2019.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
Data for 2021 is available if you download the data. This cannot be compared with previous years’ data because it is for one year only, rather than 5 years combined. This is because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data for 2015 to 2019 is available if you download the data. The data shows 5-year averages to make sure there are enough people to be able to make reliable generalisations. You can read more about why we combine multiple years of data and some of the issues involved.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed. Differences between ethnic groups have not been tested for statistical significance. The bullet points on this page only include findings about large differences.
National Travel Survey responses are weighted to take account of different population demographics. They are also weighted to take into account people who did not respond or complete their travel diary in full.
You can read more about how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the group it is about.
In the data file
See Download the data 2002 to 2019 data and for weighted and unweighted sample sizes.
3. By ethnicity (driving licences)
| Ethnicity | % |
|---|---|
| All | 77 |
| Asian | 64 |
| Black | 58 |
| Mixed | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| White | 79 |
| Other | withheld to protect confidentiality |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (driving licences)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (driving licences)’ (CSV)
4. By ethnicity (access to vehicles)
| Ethnicity | % |
|---|---|
| All | 17 |
| Asian | 18 |
| Black | 33 |
| Mixed | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| White | 16 |
| Other | withheld to protect confidentiality |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (access to vehicles)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (access to vehicles)’ (CSV)
5. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Transport
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The National Travel Survey is the main source of data on personal travel by people living in England. The survey collects information on how, why, when and where people travel. It also covers factors affecting people's travel habits, such as whether they have a car and driving licence.
6. Download the data
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Time, Time Type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Value, Value Type, Weighted Sample Individuals With Licence, Unweighted Sample Individuals With Licence, Weighted Sample Individuals, Unweighted Sample Individuals
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Time, Time Type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Value, Value Type, Weighted Sample Individuals With No Car Access, Unweighted Sample Individuals With No Car Access, Weighted Sample Individuals, Unweighted Sample Individuals