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Portsmouth motoring statistics

How many cars and electric cars are registered in Portsmouth, which fuels they use, how many public chargers there are and how Portsmouth compares with the South East. From DVLA licensing records, DfT charger statistics and ONS population estimates.

Last updated
Records analysed
150,373 licensed vehicles in Portsmouth
Methodology
View methodology
  • Licensed cars 121,131 +0.5% on a year earlier
  • Private cars per 1,000 people 362 UK 444
  • Battery electric cars 9,917 8.2% of cars (UK 5.8%)
  • Electric share of private cars 1.8% 18th lowest of 361 councils
  • Public chargers 434 203 per 100,000 people (UK 175)
  • Company-registered cars 36.0% UK 10.0%

Company fleets. 36.0% of cars registered in Portsmouth have a company as their keeper, against 10.0% across the UK. DVLA counts company cars at the company’s registered address, so leasing and rental fleets land where those firms are based and move when they move. The figures for privately kept cars are the better guide to local drivers.

How many cars are there in Portsmouth?

There were 121,131 licensed cars in Portsmouth at the end of June 2026, and 150,373 licensed vehicles of all kinds. That is 34.3% more cars than in 2010. Privately kept cars work out at 362 for every 1,000 residents, 46th lowest of 361 councils (UK 444).

Licensed vehicles in Portsmouth

Counts at the end of March each year, 2010 to 2026.

Licensed cars and vehicles in Portsmouth at the end of March each year
Year All vehiclesCars
2010 109,68390,203
2011 106,67188,950
2012 113,25693,413
2013 117,16396,415
2014 118,58997,721
2015 119,42698,335
2016 122,532100,538
2017 125,678102,299
2018 126,793102,706
2019 128,009103,400
2020 130,028105,100
2021 131,447106,224
2022 135,670109,590
2023 139,406113,228
2024 144,725116,508
2025 149,871120,571
2026 150,373121,131

Source:DfT / DVLA End of June 2026 Updated

Licensed vehicles by type

Source:DfT / DVLA End of June 2026 Updated

Cars per 1,000 residents

All licensed cars at the end of June, divided by the ONS mid-year population. Company fleets registered locally push this up.

Cars per 1,000 residents at mid-year, Portsmouth compared
Year PortsmouthSouth EastUnited Kingdom
2011 433534–
2012 454535–
2013 468541–
2014 474547–
2015 473551473
2016 479559480
2017 485567488
2018 486570490
2019 491572493
2020 503561489
2021 513564493
2022 523565489
2023 529567489
2024 544570490

Source:ONS Mid-2024 Updated

Petrol, diesel and electric cars in Portsmouth

45.3% of cars in Portsmouth run on petrol and 20.0% on diesel. Diesel’s share peaked at 39.4% in 2017. Hybrids that do not plug in make up 16.0%, and cars that plug in 18.5%.

Cars by fuel type

Source:DfT / DVLA End of June 2026 Updated

Fuel mix over time

Share of licensed cars at the end of March each year.

Share of licensed cars by fuel type in Portsmouth, end of March each year
Year PetrolDieselHybridBattery electricPlug-in hybrid
2010 63.1%35.1%1.7%0.0%0.0%
2011 62.7%34.9%2.3%0.0%0.0%
2012 59.5%37.5%2.9%0.0%0.0%
2013 57.2%39.1%3.5%0.0%0.0%
2014 56.2%39.2%4.4%0.0%0.1%
2015 55.1%39.1%5.5%0.0%0.1%
2016 53.7%39.4%6.3%0.0%0.4%
2017 52.4%39.4%7.2%0.0%0.7%
2018 52.3%38.1%8.1%0.1%1.2%
2019 52.9%36.3%8.9%0.2%1.5%
2020 52.4%34.6%10.5%0.6%1.7%
2021 52.5%31.3%10.2%2.7%3.1%
2022 50.4%28.5%11.7%5.2%4.0%
2023 48.7%26.3%12.8%7.0%5.0%
2024 46.9%23.6%14.6%8.3%6.4%
2025 45.5%21.6%15.4%8.4%8.9%
2026 45.3%20.0%16.0%8.2%10.3%

Source:DfT / DVLA End of June 2026 Updated

Electric cars in Portsmouth

9,917 battery electric cars were licensed in Portsmouth at the end of June 2026, 8.2% of all cars, 16th highest of 361 councils. With plug-in hybrids, 22,454 cars plug in. A year earlier there were 10,129.

Of the privately kept cars, which are registered at home addresses, 1.8% are battery electric (1,414 cars), the lowest of 64 councils in the South East. Companies keep 85.7% of the area’s battery electric cars, against 36.0% of its cars overall. There are also 1,893 battery electric vans.

Battery electric share of licensed cars

End of March each year. Fleet re-registrations can move a single area’s line sharply.

Battery electric share of licensed cars, Portsmouth compared, end of March each year
Year PortsmouthSouth EastUnited Kingdom
2016 0.0%0.1%0.1%
2017 0.0%0.1%0.1%
2018 0.1%0.2%0.1%
2019 0.2%0.3%0.2%
2020 0.6%0.5%0.4%
2021 2.7%1.1%0.8%
2022 5.2%2.2%1.5%
2023 7.0%3.3%2.3%
2024 8.3%4.5%3.2%
2025 8.4%6.4%4.4%
2026 8.2%9.3%5.8%

Source:DfT / DVLA End of June 2026 Updated

Public EV chargers in Portsmouth

There were 434 public chargers in Portsmouth on 1 July 2026, 43 of them rapid or ultra-rapid (50kW and above). That is 203 for every 100,000 residents, 84th highest of 361 councils, against 175 across the UK. The count rose 12.7% from 1 January 2026.

For every public charger there are 5.4 privately kept plug-in cars in Portsmouth (UK 12.9), 31st fewest of 361 councils. A higher number means more competition for each public charger, though many drivers charge at home.

Public chargers

Public EV chargers in Portsmouth by date
Date All public chargers50kW and above
Jan 2026 38547
Apr 2026 43447
Jul 2026 43443

Source:DfT 1 July 2026 Updated

Chargers per 100,000 residents

Public chargers per 100,000 residents, Portsmouth compared
Area All chargers50kW and above
Portsmouth 20320
South East 15940
England 17341
UK 17542

Source:DfT 1 July 2026 Updated

Electric cars by neighbourhood

Portsmouth has 26 ONS neighbourhoods (middle layer super output areas, about 7,000 residents each). In the typical one, 1.3% of privately kept vehicles are battery electric; in the highest, 3.5%. ONS names neighbourhoods by council and number, not by place name.

Neighbourhoods in Portsmouth with the highest battery electric share of privately kept vehicles
Neighbourhood (MSOA) Private vehicles Battery electric Electric share Plug-in share
Portsmouth 026 4,201 148 3.5% 4.9%
Portsmouth 003 4,225 145 3.4% 5.3%
Portsmouth 004 3,459 80 2.3% 3.8%
Portsmouth 006 4,471 99 2.2% 3.2%
Portsmouth 024 3,626 80 2.2% 3.5%
Portsmouth 025 2,886 63 2.2% 3.6%
Portsmouth 017 4,565 96 2.1% 3.7%
Portsmouth 022 2,727 53 1.9% 3.5%
Portsmouth 008 4,385 81 1.8% 3.1%
Portsmouth 023 4,182 65 1.6% 2.7%
Lowest electric shares
Portsmouth 010 2,512 7 0.3% 1.0%
Portsmouth 028 1,401 5 0.4% 1.5%
Portsmouth 013 2,203 8 0.4% 1.1%
Portsmouth 018 2,816 16 0.6% 2.0%
Portsmouth 012 3,953 23 0.6% 1.6%

Privately kept licensed vehicles of all types at the end of June 2026. 3 neighbourhoods are left out because DfT withholds small counts there.

Road traffic and collisions in Portsmouth

Vehicles travelled an estimated 749 million miles on roads in Portsmouth in 2025.

Traffic on all roads

Million vehicle miles a year on roads in Portsmouth
Year Million vehicle miles
1993 705
1994 717
1995 731
1996 719
1997 727
1998 742
1999 751
2000 743
2001 746
2002 761
2003 761
2004 769
2005 752
2006 753
2007 742
2008 714
2009 715
2010 717
2011 722
2012 734
2013 729
2014 734
2015 750
2016 761
2017 763
2018 749
2019 758
2020 590
2021 671
2022 757
2023 756
2024 742
2025 749

Source:DfT 1993 to 2025 Updated

Reported injury collisions

Police-reported injury collisions in Portsmouth, 2021 to 2025
Year CollisionsKilled or seriously injured
2021 42897
2022 449114
2023 46390
2024 44982
2025 45788

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

More road safety figures

Petrol and diesel prices in Portsmouth

Unleaded petrol averages 172.7p a litre across 13 filling stations in Portsmouth, 1.2p above the UK average. Diesel averages 199.2p, 0.5p above the UK average. Prices checked 31 Oct, 19:32.

Cheapest petrol

  1. All Saints Service Station Portsmouth 169.9p
  2. Green Road Service Station Southsea 169.9p
  3. Sainsbury's Farlington Portsmouth 169.9p

Every filling station and price in Portsmouth

How Portsmouth compares

Portsmouth compared with the South East, England, the UK
Portsmouth 362 8.2% 1.8% 36.0% 203 5.4
South East 499 9.3% 3.5% 18.5% 159 17.7
England 440 6.2% 3.2% 10.7% 173 13.4
United Kingdom4445.8%3.1%10.0%17512.9

Private cars per 1,000 people use the ONS mid-2024 population. Chargers are counted at the latest date; plug-in cars at the end of June 2026.

Driving test centres in Portsmouth

There is 1 DVSA car practical test centre in Portsmouth, and the highest pass rate in 2025/26 was 52.8% at Portsmouth.

Other centres in the South East:

DVSA publishes pass rates by centre name, with no address, so centres are placed here by the place name in the name DVSA uses. See pass rates at every test centre.

Councils in the South East

Sorted by battery electric share of cars. Select a column heading to sort by it.

Councils in the South East
Windsor and Maidenhead 521 40.1% 4.1% 83.4% 150 24.9
Milton Keynes 459 28.0% 4.8% 62.3% 323 10.1
Slough 386 26.3% 2.8% 50.4% 100 22.2
Portsmouth 362 8.2% 1.8% 36.0% 203 5.4
Elmbridge 530 6.2% 4.8% 4.3% 181 25.0
Cherwell 515 5.9% 3.8% 14.4% 204 15.4
Wokingham 544 5.7% 5.1% 3.1% 159 27.2
Winchester 527 5.4% 4.7% 4.9% 213 17.7
Hart 599 5.2% 4.2% 4.2% 210 18.7
Vale of White Horse 542 5.2% 4.8% 3.1% 194 20.0
Guildford 501 5.1% 4.4% 4.8% 182 19.1
Waverley 569 5.0% 4.5% 2.9% 155 26.6
Epsom and Ewell 463 4.9% 4.0% 3.8% 131 24.3
South Oxfordshire 563 4.9% 4.2% 3.3% 121 31.5
Buckinghamshire 546 4.8% 4.2% 4.1% 141 26.6
Mole Valley 595 4.8% 3.9% 15.9% 286 13.6
Eastleigh 544 4.7% 3.8% 4.6% 117 25.4
Surrey Heath 576 4.7% 4.1% 3.4% 207 18.5
East Hampshire 600 4.6% 4.0% 3.3% 84 45.1
Reigate and Banstead 500 4.6% 3.6% 9.9% 123 25.6
Runnymede 498 4.6% 3.6% 5.9% 246 12.3
Rushmoor 482 4.6% 2.6% 66.2% 156 13.1
Dartford 443 4.5% 3.7% 5.6% 194 14.2
Mid Sussex 535 4.5% 3.8% 5.0% 176 18.8
Sevenoaks 554 4.5% 3.9% 4.9% 95 39.0
Test Valley 565 4.5% 3.9% 3.9% 118 28.3
West Berkshire 562 4.5% 3.9% 4.1% 283 12.1
Basingstoke and Deane 529 4.4% 3.9% 3.2% 141 22.4
Tonbridge and Malling 534 4.4% 3.6% 5.9% 128 24.8
Fareham 568 4.3% 3.7% 3.0% 62 52.0
Horsham 583 4.3% 3.7% 3.4% 195 17.4
Tandridge 554 4.3% 3.6% 3.8% 138 25.3
Oxford 279 4.2% 3.3% 5.6% 167 8.7
West Oxfordshire 553 4.2% 3.7% 4.3% 195 17.1
Bracknell Forest 532 4.1% 3.6% 19.6% 159 19.7
Woking 516 4.1% 3.7% 3.2% 274 12.0
Brighton and Hove 309 4.0% 3.1% 5.3% 283 5.3
Tunbridge Wells 518 4.0% 3.4% 3.8% 113 27.2
Canterbury 458 3.9% 3.1% 4.8% 162 14.1
Wealden 600 3.9% 3.4% 3.4% 115 28.1
Ashford 516 3.8% 3.1% 4.7% 145 18.1
Chichester 562 3.8% 3.2% 4.1% 173 17.0
Lewes 493 3.7% 3.2% 3.8% 140 17.4
Maidstone 520 3.7% 3.1% 4.4% 83 32.5
New Forest 606 3.6% 3.1% 3.3% 177 17.2
Reading 362 3.6% 2.9% 5.1% 189 9.1
Havant 510 3.5% 2.7% 4.8% 72 29.4
Worthing 467 3.4% 2.8% 3.6% 255 7.4
Arun 532 3.3% 2.9% 3.3% 166 14.1
Spelthorne 496 3.3% 2.8% 3.8% 160 16.3
Adur 476 3.2% 2.6% 4.1% 168 11.2
Crawley 435 3.2% 2.5% 4.9% 223 8.2
Gravesham 465 3.2% 2.6% 5.6% 78 28.8
Medway 461 3.2% 2.5% 4.7% 79 25.3
Rother 551 3.2% 2.8% 3.9% 67 38.3
Swale 497 3.2% 2.7% 5.4% 107 20.3
Dover 499 3.0% 2.6% 4.2% 137 15.2
Folkestone and Hythe 498 3.0% 2.5% 4.3% 211 9.9
Eastbourne 428 2.9% 2.2% 6.9% 116 13.0
Isle of Wight 500 2.8% 2.3% 4.2% 135 12.5
Thanet 461 2.8% 2.2% 5.0% 98 17.1
Gosport 475 2.7% 2.2% 3.3% 100 16.3
Southampton 372 2.7% 2.0% 4.5% 70 17.4
Hastings 417 2.5% 2.0% 4.8% 52 26.5

Data stories to read next

All insights

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
Figures Source Period Records Updated
Licensed vehicles Vehicle licensing statistics Department for Transport End of June 2026 150,373 licensed vehicles in Portsmouth 26 October 2026
Plug-in and electric vehicles Vehicle licensing statistics Department for Transport End of June 2026 24,637 plug-in vehicles 26 October 2026
Public chargers Electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics Department for Transport 1 July 2026 121,171 public chargers (UK) 26 October 2026
Population Mid-year population estimates Office for National Statistics Mid-2024 404 areas 26 October 2026
Neighbourhoods Vehicle licensing statistics Department for Transport End of June 2026 35,672 small areas (LSOAs) in England and Wales 26 October 2026
  • Coverage: licensing and charger figures cover the whole UK. Licensing figures in Portsmouth run from the end of 2009.
  • Vehicles are counted at the registered keeper’s postcode: for company cars that is the company’s address, not where the car is driven.
  • Battery electric and plug-in counts come from table VEH0142; petrol, diesel and hybrid counts from VEH0105. “Other fuels” is VEH0105’s other-fuel count less plug-in cars.
  • Charger counts are based on Zapmap data and are official statistics in development. In June 2026 one operator removed about 1,270 private chargers wrongly listed as public, so April and July are not strictly comparable.
  • Neighbourhood figures cover England and Wales only; Scottish data zones and Northern Irish super data zones cannot be placed in councils without lookups we do not hold.
How we calculate these figures All data sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.