Driving licences
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Driving licences and access to vehicles.
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1. Main facts and figures
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overall, 73% of adults in England held a full driving licence between 2011 and 2015
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White people were more likely to hold a full driving licence than any other ethnic group, and Black people were least likely to
Things you need to know
The National Travel Survey has been run in the same way from 2002/06 to 2011/15. This means there is a high level of consistency in the data.
To increase the reliability of the data, the information is collected over a series of overlapping 5-year periods. The average for each 5-year period is then calculated.
Please be aware that sample sizes for the Mixed and Other ethnic groups are small, so any generalisations based on the results for these groups are unreliable.
People from ethnic minority groups are more likely than White people to live in urban areas, where fewer people own and drive cars.
The data for ‘All ethnic groups’ includes people who did not give their ethnicity.
What the data measures
This data measures the percentage of people aged 17 and over in England with a full driving licence, and breaks this information down by ethnicity.
In this case, a ‘full driving licence’ is a full driving licence valid in England, Wales and Scotland to drive either a car, or a motorcycle, scooter or moped.
The data includes people who gained a driving licence in another country, as long as that licence is valid in England, Wales and Scotland. People who were disqualified from driving but hold a full licence are also included.
The data comes from the Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey.
The ethnic categories used in this data
For this data, the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 5 broad groups:
- Asian/Asian British
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
- Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
- White
- Other ethnic group
2. Driving licence holders by ethnicity
| Time | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| 2002/06 | 71 | 58 | 51 | 54 | 73 | 54 |
| 2003/07 | 71 | 57 | 51 | 54 | 73 | 54 |
| 2004/08 | 72 | 57 | 51 | 53 | 74 | 53 |
| 2005/09 | 72 | 58 | 51 | 55 | 74 | 51 |
| 2006/10 | 72 | 58 | 50 | 57 | 74 | 54 |
| 2007/11 | 73 | 58 | 49 | 53 | 75 | 54 |
| 2008/12 | 73 | 58 | 50 | 55 | 75 | 55 |
| 2009/13 | 73 | 60 | 50 | 56 | 75 | 56 |
| 2010/14 | 73 | 60 | 51 | 56 | 75 | 59 |
| 2011/15 | 73 | 60 | 52 | 57 | 75 | 58 |
Download table data for ‘Driving licence holders by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Driving licence holders by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Driving licences Driving licence holders by ethnicity Summary
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between 2011 and 2015, an average of 73% of adults in England held a driving licence
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in this period, 75% of White people, 60% of Asian people, 58% of people from the Other ethnic group, 57% of people from a Mixed ethnic background and 52% of Black people held a driving licence
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the percentage of people in each ethnic group who hold a driving licence has remained broadly the same from 2002/06 to 2011/15
3. Methodology
The denominators are the weighted number of people aged 17 and over in the National Travel Survey (NTS) in each ethnic group. The numerators are the weighted number of people aged 17 and over in the National Travel Survey who held a full driving licence in each ethnic group.
Only people who gave a valid answer to the question of whether they held a full driving licence are included in the data.
The NTS data collection consists of a face-to-face interview and a 7-day self-completed written travel diary, allowing travel patterns to be linked with individual characteristics. The NTS covers travel by people in all age groups, including children.
In 2013, the survey coverage changed from sampling residents of England, Wales and Scotland, to residents of England only. Approximately 16,000 individuals, in 7,000 households in England, participate in the NTS each year.
Responses are weighted to take account of different population demographics, but are not grossed to England totals.
Statistics from the NTS were assessed during 2010 by the UK Statistics Authority. An assessment report (PDF opens in a new window or tab) was published in October 2010. The statistics were confirmed as National Statistics in July 2011.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Any cells with fewer than 100 unweighted individuals, or 300 unweighted trips, have been suppressed. This is for reasons of reliability, as the data is not disclosive in this aggregated form.
For example, in the latest 5-year period, there were only around 700 and 900 individuals in the 'Mixed' and 'Other' ethnic groupings respectively, so the data does not support further detailed breakdowns, as these estimates would be unreliable. The combined totals for all ethnic groups include people who did not state which ethnic group they belonged to.
Rounding
Figures are rounded to the nearest whole percentage.
Related publications
Previous reports are available at the National Travel Survey
Further technical information
Full methodological details for the NTS are available in the annual Technical Report (PDF opens in a new window or tab)
4. 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 (NTS) is a household survey designed to monitor long-term trends in personal travel and to inform the development of policy.
It is the primary source of data on personal travel patterns within England, Scotland and Wales by residents of England.
The survey collects information on how, why, when and where people travel as well as factors affecting travel (for example, car availability and whether people hold driving licences).
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, value, denominator, numerator, sample size