Key Facts

 

The charts on this page bring together some of the most important facts and figures about the scale, economics, environmental impact and employment stats for our sector.

They correct some myths and misconceptions and put the importance of the historic and classic vehicles industry into perspective. Two recent reports provide the basis for the data below. The FBHVC carried out a detailed survey in 2015, 2018 and 2020 using the internationally recognised FIVA 'historic vehicle' definition of over thirty years old which included 1.54 million vehicles. HERO released a report in December 2020 compiled for them by the CEBR which included an additional 1.47 million 'classic vehicles' over fifteen years old, based on HMRC definitions of a classic car - giving a total of 3.01 million classic and historic vehicles.

Sources - [1] is the HERO report, [2] is the FBHVC 2020 report.

  • 3.01 million – total UK historic and classic vehicle fleet [1]
    1.54 million - historic vehicles in the UK [1+2]

  • 1.47 million – classic vehicles in the UK [1]
    700,000 - owners of Historic vehicles over 30 years old [1]

  • £18.3 billion – annual turnover of the whole sector [1]
    £12.6 billion – estimated value of the UK’s fleet of classic and historic vehicles [1]
    £2.9 billion – annual tax revenue generated by the sector [1]

  • £2.24 billion – total value of classic and historic vehicle sales in 2019 [1]
    £1.57 billion – total value of classic and historic car sales in 2019 [1]
    £1.08 billion – Classic vehicle owners spend on insurance in 2019 [1]

Sources - [1] is the HERO report.

  • 7,200 miles - UK car average mileage [3]

  • 1,200 miles - UK classic vehicle average mileage [2]

Sources - [2] is the FBHVC 2020 report, [3] is the Department for Transport.

  • 563kg of CO2 emissions produced annually by the average historic or classic vehicle. That’s around 20% of the emissions from using a computer and a mobile phone for a year. [1]

  • The average number of times historic/classic vehicles are taken for a drive annually is 16. [2]

Sources - [1] is the HERO report, [2] is the FBHVC 2020 report.

  • 113,000 – jobs that depend on the sector [1]

  • Just 665 apprenticeships within the industry [1]

Sources - [1] is the HERO report.