Motorway
M20 traffic and collisions
The M20 is a motorway of 51.4 miles, in Kent. This page covers its traffic at 18 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 1.2bn vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 64,791 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 128,314 J5 to J6
- HGV share 13.4% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +2.2% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 400 6.9 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M20?
On an average day in 2025, 64,791 vehicles passed each point on the M20, counting both directions. The busiest section is J5 to J6 (Kent), with 128,314 a day; the quietest listed is J11A to J12, with 43,082.
Busiest sections, 2025
J5 to J6 carries 2.0 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| J5 to J6 Kent · 1.4 mi · HGVs 9.8% | 128,314 |
| J6 to J7 Kent · 1.8 mi · HGVs 11.0% | 114,655 |
| J4 to J5 Kent · 2.7 mi · HGVs 10.7% | 113,586 |
| J3 to J4 Kent · 2.7 mi · HGVs 12.2% | 103,832 |
| J7 to J8 Kent · 3.4 mi · HGVs 11.8% | 79,034 |
| M25 to J2 Kent · 7.1 mi · HGVs 11.8% | 64,659 |
| J9 to J10 Kent · 2.5 mi · HGVs 16.4% | 56,405 |
| J8 to J9 Kent · 13.6 mi · HGVs 17.2% | 52,992 |
| J11 to J11A Kent · 2.4 mi · HGVs 16.8% | 52,152 |
| J10 to J11 Kent · 6.8 mi · HGVs 14.8% | 51,660 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Kent · 51.4 miles
M20 traffic and collisions by section
15 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 3 short link roads and spurs (0.7 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A20 to M25Kent | 19,711 | 4 |
| 2 | M25 to J2Kent | 64,659 | 39 |
| 3 | At J2Kent | 49,252 | 11 |
| 4 | J2 to J3Kent | 44,838 | 15 |
| 5 | J3 to J4Kent | 103,832 | 47 |
| 6 | J4 to J5Kent | 113,586 | 38 |
| 7 | J5 to J6Kent | 128,314 | 32 |
| 8 | J6 to J7Kent | 114,655 | 27 |
| 9 | J7 to J8Kent | 79,034 | 34 |
| 10 | J8 to J9Kent | 52,992 | 59 |
| 11 | J9 to J10Kent | 56,405 | 19 |
| 12 | J10 to J11Kent | 51,660 | 30 |
| 13 | J11 to J11AKent | 52,152 | 10 |
| 14 | J11A to J12Kent | 43,082 | 10 |
| 15 | J12 to J13Kent | 47,865 | 13 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M20 as the first road, placed on the nearest section by their recorded position; rates (per 100 million vehicle miles) are shown for sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more.
M20 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 66.4% of the vehicle miles on the M20. HGVs account for 13.4%, rising to 17.2% on J8 to J9.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.1% |
| 2001 | 13.5% |
| 2002 | 13.5% |
| 2003 | 13.1% |
| 2004 | 14.1% |
| 2005 | 13.8% |
| 2006 | 14.1% |
| 2007 | 14.8% |
| 2008 | 14.2% |
| 2009 | 12.1% |
| 2010 | 12.6% |
| 2011 | 13.2% |
| 2012 | 13.1% |
| 2013 | 13.1% |
| 2014 | 13.1% |
| 2015 | 13.8% |
| 2016 | 13.5% |
| 2017 | 13.9% |
| 2018 | 14.0% |
| 2019 | 13.3% |
| 2020 | 16.0% |
| 2021 | 15.3% |
| 2022 | 13.8% |
| 2023 | 13.6% |
| 2024 | 13.5% |
| 2025 | 13.4% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M20 traffic trend
Traffic on the M20 came to 1.22 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 2.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 2.6% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 10.9% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.1bn |
| 2001 | 1.1bn |
| 2002 | 1.2bn |
| 2003 | 1.2bn |
| 2004 | 1.2bn |
| 2005 | 1.2bn |
| 2006 | 1.2bn |
| 2007 | 1.2bn |
| 2008 | 1.2bn |
| 2009 | 1.2bn |
| 2010 | 1.2bn |
| 2011 | 1.2bn |
| 2012 | 1.2bn |
| 2013 | 1.2bn |
| 2014 | 1.2bn |
| 2015 | 1.2bn |
| 2016 | 1.3bn |
| 2017 | 1.3bn |
| 2018 | 1.3bn |
| 2019 | 1.2bn |
| 2020 | 918m |
| 2021 | 1.0bn |
| 2022 | 1.2bn |
| 2023 | 1.2bn |
| 2024 | 1.2bn |
| 2025 | 1.2bn |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 58,424 |
| 2001 | 61,493 |
| 2002 | 63,877 |
| 2003 | 64,977 |
| 2004 | 64,567 |
| 2005 | 64,208 |
| 2006 | 65,766 |
| 2007 | 66,375 |
| 2008 | 66,182 |
| 2009 | 64,498 |
| 2010 | 61,614 |
| 2011 | 63,235 |
| 2012 | 64,133 |
| 2013 | 63,564 |
| 2014 | 65,226 |
| 2015 | 66,517 |
| 2016 | 67,560 |
| 2017 | 68,695 |
| 2018 | 67,784 |
| 2019 | 63,370 |
| 2020 | 48,940 |
| 2021 | 55,628 |
| 2022 | 61,978 |
| 2023 | 62,953 |
| 2024 | 62,861 |
| 2025 | 64,791 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
The chart counts the whole road as it was each year, so new or renumbered stretches move it. The percentage changes compare only count points present in both years. In 2025, 7 of the 18 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M20 collisions
Police recorded 400 collisions with the M20 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 75 of them fatal or serious. That is 6.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 1.6 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 2.4% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | 8 |
| 2022 | 78 | 15 |
| 2023 | 63 | 19 |
| 2024 | 48 | 15 |
| 2025 | 62 | 18 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Sections with the highest collision rates
Per 100 million vehicle miles, 2021 to 2025. Sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more collisions.
| Section | Per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| J12 to J13 Kent · 13 collisions | 12.3 |
| J11A to J12 Kent · 10 collisions | 11.1 |
| J5 to J6 Kent · 32 collisions | 10.3 |
| At J2 Kent · 11 collisions | 9.9 |
| J3 to J4 Kent · 47 collisions | 9.6 |
| J2 to J3 Kent · 15 collisions | 8.3 |
| J9 to J10 Kent · 19 collisions | 7.8 |
| J7 to J8 Kent · 34 collisions | 7.5 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 23 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M20 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 97.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the M20
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Kent
Planned closures on the M20 in England
National Highways has 31 planned closures on the M20 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, all of them starting in that period. 19 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 30 start between 7pm and 6am.
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Lane or slip M20 eastbound hard shoulder closure ( 64/5A to 65/2A)
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Carriageway M20 westbound Jct 6 exit slip road closure
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Carriageway M20 westbound Jct 6 exit slip road closure
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Carriageway M20 eastbound Jct 9 to Jct 10 carriageway closure
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Lane or slip M20 eastbound lane 1 closure including lane 1 closure on Jct 7 exit slip road
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Lane or slip M20 eastbound lane 1 closure (109/3a to 110/9a)
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Lane or slip M20 eastbound lane 3 closure (86/7a to 90/9a)
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Carriageway M20 Eastbound Jct 1 to Jct 3 carriageway closure
23 more planned closures in this period are not shown.
Planned closures only: National Highways can cancel or change them, and closures caused by incidents are not shown. Council roads in England are not covered. Roadworks and closures across the UK
Source:National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 Updated
Data sources and methodology
| Figures | Source | Period | Records | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic counts and vehicle mix | Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2000 to 2025 | 18 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 400 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Planned closures | Transport Data Feeds (DATEX II) National Highways | 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 | 2,304 planned closure schemes | 16 September 2026 |
- Annual average daily flow (AADF) is the average number of vehicles passing a point on a typical day of the year, both directions combined.
- Vehicle miles are AADF multiplied by link length and 365, summed over every count point link on the road.
- Sections join count point links between junctions, using the link lines in DfT’s major road database.
- STATS19 covers personal injury collisions reported to the police. Damage-only collisions are not included, and not every injury collision is reported.
- Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates, which allow for police forces moving to injury-based reporting.
- Counts of one or two collisions below Great Britain level are shown as “fewer than 3”.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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