Statistics
Average annual mileage in the UK
How far the average car is driven in a year, from the odometer readings DVSA records at every MOT: 6,727 miles in 2025. Broken down by the age of the car, by postcode area and by model.
How many miles does the average car do a year?
The average car covered 6,727 miles in 2025, from the odometer readings DVSA records at every MOT. That is an average across 29,122,953 tests of cars aged three and over in Great Britain.
- Average car, 2025 6,727 miles from 29,122,953 MOT tests
- Three-year-old cars 8,081 miles oldest cars 3,860 miles
- Highest area 7,745 miles Galashiels (TD)
- Lowest area 4,761 miles South West London (SW)
- Highest model 13,326 miles Toyota Prius
- Lowest model 2,095 miles Jaguar XK Series
Cars under three years old do not need an MOT, so they are not in these figures. Newer cars tend to cover more miles, which is one reason this average sits below the round numbers often quoted for a family car.
Mileage by the age of the car
Cars at their first MOT average 8,081 miles a year. By 11 to 14 years old that is down to 6,439 miles, and cars of 20 or more average 3,860 miles.
Average annual mileage by car age
Each bar is the average for cars tested at that age, so it shows how use falls away as a car gets older rather than how one car's mileage changes.
| Car age | Miles a year |
|---|---|
| 3 years | 8,081 |
| 4–5 years | 8,052 |
| 6–7 years | 7,681 |
| 8–10 years | 7,183 |
| 11–14 years | 6,439 |
| 15–19 years | 5,567 |
| 20+ years | 3,860 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
What has a car of that age covered?
Adding up the yearly averages above gives a rough total for a car that has done average mileage all its life. It is a guide for judging a used car's odometer, not a reading from any particular car.
| Age of car | Typical total mileage |
|---|---|
| 3 years | 24,000 |
| 5 years | 40,500 |
| 7 years | 55,500 |
| 10 years | 77,500 |
| 14 years | 103,000 |
| 19 years | 131,000 |
Where cars cover the most miles
Cars in the Galashiels postcode area (TD) average 7,745 miles a year, the highest of the 118 areas we can measure. The lowest is South West London (SW) at 4,761 miles, a difference of 2,984 miles a year.
Highest average annual mileage
| Postcode area | Miles a year |
|---|---|
| Galashiels (TD) | 7,745 |
| Perth (PH) | 7,663 |
| Inverness (IV) | 7,580 |
| Llandrindod Wells (LD) | 7,551 |
| Cambridge (CB) | 7,540 |
| Dumfries (DG) | 7,490 |
| Luton (LU) | 7,489 |
| Salisbury (SP) | 7,464 |
| Darlington (DL) | 7,458 |
| Peterborough (PE) | 7,444 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
Lowest average annual mileage
| Postcode area | Miles a year |
|---|---|
| South West London (SW) | 4,761 |
| West London (W) | 5,021 |
| Bromley (BR) | 5,077 |
| Sutton (SM) | 5,079 |
| South East London (SE) | 5,253 |
| North West London (NW) | 5,453 |
| Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 5,478 |
| Croydon (CR) | 5,530 |
| North London (N) | 5,684 |
| Twickenham (TW) | 5,738 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
Rural areas, where the nearest town is a drive away, sit at the top. Inner London areas sit at the bottom, where journeys are short and there is a train or a bus instead.
Which cars do the miles?
The Toyota Prius averages 13,326 miles a year, more than any model with 20,000 or more MOT tests. At the other end, the Jaguar XK Series averages 2,095 miles: about a sixth of the miles, from cars kept for weekends rather than commutes.
Highest mileage models
| Model | Miles a year |
|---|---|
| Toyota Prius | 13,326 |
| Hyundai Ioniq | 13,134 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 11,076 |
| Skoda Superb | 10,669 |
| SEAT Alhambra | 10,176 |
| Ford Tourneo | 10,098 |
| Volkswagen Sharan | 9,894 |
| Skoda Kodiaq | 9,677 |
| Skoda Octavia | 9,637 |
| Volkswagen Passat | 9,236 |
| Kia Niro | 9,139 |
| Volvo V60 | 9,036 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
Lowest mileage models
| Model | Miles a year |
|---|---|
| Jaguar XK Series | 2,095 |
| Porsche 911 | 2,149 |
| Mercedes-Benz SL-Class | 2,260 |
| Porsche Boxster | 2,460 |
| Mazda MX-5 | 3,300 |
| Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class | 3,405 |
| Peugeot 206 | 3,437 |
| BMW Z4 | 3,621 |
| Smart Fortwo | 3,819 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | 3,939 |
| Suzuki Jimny | 4,035 |
| Vauxhall Agila | 4,281 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
Models with fewer than 20,000 tests are left out, so a handful of cars cannot set a record. High averages tend to belong to hybrids and saloons used for work; low ones to sports cars and convertibles.
Questions about car mileage
What is the average annual mileage in the UK?
The average car covered 6,727 miles in 2025, worked out from the odometer readings DVSA records at consecutive MOT tests. That covers cars aged three and over in Great Britain: cars under three do not need an MOT, so they are not in the figures.
Why is the average lower than the 10,000 miles people quote?
Two reasons. These are all cars aged three and over, including second cars and little-used older cars, not just main family cars. And the figure is a straight average across every car tested, so a car sitting on a drive most of the year pulls it down as much as a commuter pulls it up.
How many miles a year is high mileage?
There is no official line, but the figures give you a yardstick: half the models we can measure average under 7,027 miles, and the highest-mileage model averages 13,326 miles. A car doing 15,000 a year is well above anything we see as a model average.
Does mileage change with a car’s age?
Yes, steadily. Cars at their first MOT average 8,081 miles a year, and cars of 20 or more average 3,860 miles: about 48% of the newer figure.
How is it measured?
From the mileage recorded at each MOT. Comparing a car’s reading with its previous one gives the miles covered between tests, and dividing by the time between them gives miles a year. Readings that are missing, or that fall, are left out.
Where do cars cover the most miles?
In the Galashiels postcode area (TD), where cars average 7,745 miles a year. The lowest is South West London (SW) at 4,761 miles, which is what you would expect where journeys are short and public transport is dense.
Data stories to read next
Data sources and methodology
| Figures | Source | Period | Records | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOT odometer readings | Anonymised MOT tests and results Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2025 | 29,122,953 car MOT tests | 15 September 2026 |
- Mileage comes from the odometer reading recorded at each MOT. The miles between two consecutive tests of the same car, divided by the time between them, gives miles a year.
- Cars under three years old are not MOT tested, so they are absent. Readings that are missing, in kilometres without a conversion, or lower than the previous test are left out.
- Figures cover Great Britain: DVSA does not run MOT testing in Northern Ireland.
- Model figures are averages across every car of that model tested, whatever its age, so a model kept on the road longer will show a lower yearly average.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.