Road rankings

Where traffic is growing

Traffic on each motorway and A-road in 2025 against 2019, the last year before the pandemic, at the same count points.

Last updated: 15 September 2026
Data source: Department for Transport
Records analysed: 549 roads with a like-for-like comparison
Methodology: View methodology

Across all of Great Britain’s roads, traffic in 2025 was +4.2% on 2019 (motorways +2.0%). Of 549 roads we can compare like for like, 220 carry more traffic than in 2019. The biggest rise is on the A375 (+27.0%) and the biggest fall on the A503 (−18.0%).

Fastest-growing roads since 2019

The 25 roads with the biggest rise in traffic since 2019, like for like, 2025
#
1	A375In Devon	10.0	8,321	+27.0%	+30.1%
2	A713South Ayrshire to Dumfries & Galloway	48.8	3,242	+25.9%	+31.1%
3	A161Nottinghamshire to East Riding of Yorkshire	30.1	3,616	+20.4%	+1.5%
4	A144In Suffolk	14.2	5,981	+18.2%	+20.9%
5	A477Carmarthenshire to Pembrokeshire	28.5	12,693	+17.9%	+36.6%
6	A1270In Norfolk	13.3	24,184	+17.0%	–
7	A513In Staffordshire	23.9	8,705	+16.6%	+13.1%
8	A85Perth & Kinross to Dundee City	95.8	5,250	+16.5%	+6.5%
9	A836In Highland	120.8	1,187	+15.7%	+20.5%
10	A625Derbyshire to Sheffield	11.3	12,522	+15.4%	+56.0%
11	A1068In Northumberland	29.0	8,382	+15.1%	+12.3%
12	A4048Caerphilly to Blaenau Gwent	11.8	8,827	+14.7%	+17.1%
13	A1088Suffolk to Norfolk	15.1	6,488	+14.1%	+27.3%
14	A87In Highland	99.9	3,324	+13.8%	+37.1%
15	A830In Highland	41.2	2,211	+13.6%	+16.9%
16	A2070In Kent	15.3	20,721	+12.3%	+22.8%
17	A99In Highland	33.4	2,130	+12.1%	+22.7%
18	A489Shropshire to Powys	34.0	4,052	+11.7%	+6.1%
19	A262In Kent	14.2	9,773	+11.4%	+24.0%
20	A6195In Barnsley	11.9	20,733	+10.9%	+20.2%
21	A15Cambridgeshire to East Riding of Yorkshire	98.8	16,036	+10.5%	+20.4%
22	A225In Kent	16.8	12,042	+9.9%	+12.3%
23	A131Essex to Suffolk	29.4	17,532	+9.8%	+10.8%
24	A177Stockton-on-Tees to Durham	19.2	13,890	+9.8%	+13.1%
25	A82Glasgow City to Highland	168.8	9,074	+9.5%	+18.6%

Biggest falls since 2019

The 25 roads with the biggest fall in traffic since 2019, like for like, 2025
#
1	A503Camden to Waltham Forest	10.0	16,233	−18.0%	−16.2%
2	A822In Perth & Kinross	32.9	2,255	−17.6%	−14.0%
3	A709In Dumfries & Galloway	12.4	7,757	−17.6%	−10.6%
4	A863In Highland	22.1	734	−17.0%	−13.6%
5	A911Fife to Perth & Kinross	16.2	7,803	−15.9%	−13.4%
6	A498In Gwynedd	15.0	1,128	−15.0%	−12.3%
7	A4086Conwy to Gwynedd	18.3	3,244	−14.1%	−11.2%
8	A219Hammersmith and Fulham to Merton	10.8	18,347	−13.6%	−8.0%
9	A5183Hertfordshire to Central Bedfordshire	21.9	14,441	−13.1%	−2.7%
10	A118Newham to Havering	12.8	21,335	−13.0%	−11.6%
11	A464Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin	10.6	6,628	−12.1%	−10.1%
12	A105Islington to Enfield	10.9	15,343	−12.0%	−11.4%
13	A222Croydon to Bexley	15.0	16,726	−11.8%	−11.9%
14	A4020Hammersmith and Fulham to Buckinghamshire	14.4	22,796	−11.5%	−10.2%
15	A128Essex to Thurrock	17.6	12,167	−11.4%	−8.4%
16	A6108In North Yorkshire	35.9	2,796	−11.3%	−1.7%
17	A387In Cornwall	12.7	3,713	−11.2%	−14.3%
18	A956Aberdeenshire to Aberdeen City	11.4	16,801	−11.1%	−18.7%
19	A8City of Edinburgh to Inverclyde	48.9	17,634	−11.0%	−23.6%
20	A537Derbyshire to East Cheshire	20.3	9,859	−10.9%	−2.8%
21	A275In East Sussex	15.7	6,059	−10.8%	−11.5%
22	A939Aberdeenshire to Highland	61.6	1,664	−10.7%	−7.4%
23	A83In Argyll & Bute	98.7	3,084	−10.2%	−5.2%
24	A719East Ayrshire to South Ayrshire	36.4	3,612	−10.2%	−8.4%
25	A468Newport to Rhondda Cynon Taf	12.3	17,880	−10.1%	−9.2%

Motorways since 2019

Traffic change on motorways since 2019, like for like, 2025
#
1	M6Leicestershire to Cumberland	246.4	95,479	+9.0%	+9.8%
2	M57Knowsley to Sefton	11.2	77,479	+7.7%	+28.5%
3	M48South Gloucestershire to Monmouthshire	13.0	20,430	+7.6%	+21.8%
4	M58Sefton to Wigan	12.8	42,200	+6.9%	+5.2%
5	M77Glasgow City to East Ayrshire	19.6	54,506	+6.6%	+8.0%
6	M5Sandwell to Devon	165.9	97,573	+6.4%	+13.6%
7	M53Wirral to West Cheshire	22.3	65,277	+5.7%	+7.5%
8	M60Bury to Stockport	37.8	131,422	+5.7%	+9.3%
9	M74Glasgow City to South Lanarkshire	42.5	55,118	+5.3%	+27.3%
10	M56Stockport to West Cheshire	37.5	104,912	+3.8%	+6.3%
11	A74(M)South Lanarkshire to Cumberland	49.7	37,540	+3.7%	+12.7%
12	M50Worcestershire to Herefordshire	21.9	26,680	+2.4%	+4.5%
13	M80Glasgow City to Stirling	25.8	52,195	+2.4%	+12.7%
14	M20In Kent	51.4	64,791	+2.2%	−2.6%
15	M61Salford to Lancashire	24.8	88,269	+1.9%	+5.0%
16	M8City of Edinburgh to Renfrewshire	67.0	69,777	+1.5%	+4.3%
17	M62Liverpool to East Riding of Yorkshire	103.3	97,736	+1.3%	+7.0%
18	M65In Lancashire	29.0	62,005	+0.8%	+7.1%
19	M1Barnet to Leeds	203.4	115,234	+0.6%	+10.3%
20	A1(M)Hertfordshire to Gateshead	156.5	69,300	+0.5%	+6.0%
21	M69Warwickshire to Leicestershire	17.3	59,202	+0.3%	+11.9%
22	M27Hampshire to Portsmouth	32.1	105,676	+0.2%	−1.4%
23	M54Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin	24.8	50,949	−0.2%	+14.4%
24	M2In Kent	28.7	73,043	−0.7%	+5.1%
25	M25Kent to Thurrock	118.4	145,590	−0.7%	+0.8%
26	M4Hounslow to Carmarthenshire	196.5	91,647	−0.8%	+0.5%
27	M180Doncaster to North Lincolnshire	25.7	39,391	−3.2%	+5.0%
28	M3Surrey to Hampshire	62.5	91,563	−3.5%	+3.2%
29	M40Buckinghamshire to Warwickshire	90.9	92,260	−4.0%	0.0%
30	M18Rotherham to East Riding of Yorkshire	29.3	67,793	−4.2%	+8.0%
31	M6 TollWarwickshire to Staffordshire	29.8	37,220	−4.7%	+9.6%
32	M90City of Edinburgh to Perth & Kinross	43.1	37,563	−4.8%	+8.3%
33	M42Worcestershire to Leicestershire	44.8	89,637	−4.9%	−3.5%
34	M621Kirklees to Leeds	10.8	57,171	−6.3%	+8.1%
35	M9City of Edinburgh to Stirling	31.5	41,568	−6.6%	+6.3%

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
Figures	Source	Period	Records	Updated
Traffic counts	Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring	2019 to 2025	549 roads with a like-for-like comparison	15 September 2026

Like for like: only count points with a figure in both years, weighted by today’s link length. Roads qualify with at least 10 miles and 70% of their length comparable.
Where DfT did not count a link in a year, it estimates the flow from earlier counts and local trends, so a road counted rarely follows its area’s trend.
New roads, bypasses and renumbering change where traffic runs; a fall on one road can be a rise on another.

How we calculate these figures All data sources

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

Fastest-growing roads since 2019

Biggest falls since 2019

Motorways since 2019

Data sources and methodology

More road rankings