Female van ownership doubles in 15 years
- Vans now make up 12% of all vehicles on our roads, with one in every 15 vans owned by women
- 2024 saw almost 4.8 million vans on UK roads – a record high
- Over 360,000 new vans were registered last year – up 2% on the previous year
- Registration of zero emission vans remains low (6%) compared to cars (19%)
The number of vans on UK roads has hit an all-time high, new analysis from Direct Line business insurance reveals. Vans now account for one in eight vehicles (12%) on our roads.1 The number of vans or Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) on UK roads hit 4,797,000 in 20242, marking an increase of 86,700 (2%) on the previous year, with 1.2million more LGVs on our UK roads than 10 years ago.3
An increase in van ownership is increasingly noticeable amongst women. Female van ownership in the UK has doubled in the last 15 years, with 272,900 owners in 2024 (6% of the total market), highlighting how ownership within the LGV market is becoming slightly more gender diverse. Male van ownership currently stands at 2,081,600 owners (43% of the market), while the remainder are owned by companies (48%), between owners (2%) or unknown (1%).
In 2024, 8% of the total vans on the road were in their first year of use, with 363,000 vans debuting – up 3% from 2023 (352,000)3.
The average age of LGVs is at an all-time high of 9.1 years, compared to 8.4 years in 2020. This marks an increase of 8% in half a decade.
Interestingly, while the UK witnessed a surge in new registrations of zero emission LGVs earlier in the decade, the figures show this number stalling since 2022. Half a decade ago, the percentage of new van registrations that were zero emission was 2%, with this number tripling in only two years to reach over 6% in 2022. Since then, however, the figure has remained constant, displaying a slowdown in uptake of zero emission vans. Contrastingly, new zero emission registrations for cars rose 3% this year to 19%.
Table 1: Zero emission vans registered for the first time as a percentage of all new UK registrations
Year |
Percentage of new registration LGVs which were zero emissions |
2024 |
6.2% |
2023 |
6.2% |
2022 |
6.3% |
2021 |
3.6% |
2020 |
1.9% |
Source: Direct Line business insurance 20251
Eva Sandstra-Bennett, Van Product Manager at Direct Line business insurance, commented:
“A record number of vans on the road highlights strong commercial activity across the UK, which is good news for businesses. Analysis of the figures underlines the resilience of the UK’s van market despite recent supply side challenges.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. 4,797,000 of 41,664,400 = 11.51%. https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F6846e8dc57f3515d9611f119%2Fveh0101.ods&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK
For further information, please contact:
Unni Henry,
PR Manager, Direct Line business insurance
Email: unni.henry@directlinegroup.co.uk
About Direct Line business insurance
Launched in 2007 Direct Line business insurance provides a flexible range of insurance products for the landlord, van and small business sectors and is part of the Aviva Group.
Customers can find out more about Direct Line business insurance products or get a quote by calling 0345 301 4827 or visiting https://www.directlineforbusiness.co.uk