Sub-annual motor vehicle use estimates, July 2019 to June 2020

Estimates of; kilometres travelled, tonne-kilometres travelled, tonnes carried and fuel use.

Released

21/12/2020

Source

Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia, 12 Months ended 30 June 2020

This article provides estimates on Australian motor vehicle use and freight movements over the 2019/20 year for the following four month collection periods:

Period 1 – 1 July 2019 to 31 October 2019
Period 2 – 1 November 2019 to 29 February 2020 (bushfires and severe weather events)
Period 3 – 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 (COVID-19)

These estimates have been produced to inform any impacts on vehicle use during the 2019/20 summer bushfires and the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Collection period 2 aligns with natural disasters experienced over 2019/20 and period 3 aligns with the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Included in this publication for reference and comparison are sub-annual estimates for the Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, 2018. These estimates are available as a data download.

Key statistics

Kilometres travelled, state and territory of registration by period
	Period 1 (m)	Period 2 (m)	Period 3 (m)
NSW	28,728	21,386	18,804
Vic.	23,432	23,298	16,728
Qld	18,169	18,158	14,319
SA	5,972	5,568	4,868
WA	9,296	9,956	8,321
Tas.	2,015	1,721	1,816
NT	757	669	590
ACT	1,397	1,272	887

Kilometres travelled, state and territory of registration by period

["","Period 1","Period 2","Period 3"]

[["NSW","Vic.","Qld","SA","WA","Tas.","NT","ACT"],[[28728],[23432],[18169],[5972],[9296],[2015],[757],[1397]],[[21386],[23298],[18158],[5568],[9956],[1721],[669],[1272]],[[18804],[16728],[14319],[4868],[8321],[1816],[590],[887]]]

[]

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Average kilometres travelled, state and territory of registration by period
	Period 1 ('000)	Period 2 ('000)	Period 3 ('000)
NSW	4.9	3.7	3.3
Vic.	4.6	4.4	3.3
Qld	4.4	4.4	3.3
SA	4.2	3.8	3.5
WA	4.1	4.4	3.6
Tas.	4.0	3.4	3.5
NT	4.8	4.1	3.6
ACT	4.7	4.3	2.9
Aust.	4.6	4.1	3.4

Average kilometres travelled, state and territory of registration by period

["","Period 1","Period 2","Period 3"]

[["NSW","Vic.","Qld","SA","WA","Tas.","NT","ACT","Aust."],[[4.9000000000000004],[4.5999999999999996],[4.4000000000000004],[4.2000000000000002],[4.0999999999999996],[4],[4.7999999999999998],[4.7000000000000002],[4.5999999999999996]],[[3.7000000000000002],[4.4000000000000004],[4.4000000000000004],[3.7999999999999998],[4.4000000000000004],[3.3999999999999999],[4.0999999999999996],[4.2999999999999998],[4.0999999999999996]],[[3.2999999999999998],[3.2999999999999998],[3.2999999999999998],[3.5],[3.6000000000000001],[3.5],[3.6000000000000001],[2.8999999999999999],[3.3999999999999999]]]

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Kilometres travelled, type of vehicle by period
	Period 1 (m)	Period 2 (m)	Period 3 (m)
Passenger vehicles	62,063	57,113	43,625
Motor cycles	590	692	394
Light commercial vehicles	19,289	17,333	15,423
Rigid trucks	3,912	3,539	3,536
Articulated trucks	2,913	2,510	2,755
Non-freight carrying trucks	102	104	110
Buses	898	737	491

Kilometres travelled, type of vehicle by period

["","Period 1","Period 2","Period 3"]

[["Passenger vehicles","Motor cycles","Light commercial vehicles","Rigid trucks","Articulated trucks","Non-freight carrying trucks","Buses"],[[62063],[590],[19289],[3912],[2913],[102],[898]],[[57113],[692],[17333],[3539],[2510],[104],[737]],[[43625],[394],[15423],[3536],[2755],[110],[491]]]

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Average kilometres travelled, type of vehicle by period
	Period 1 ('000)	Period 2 ('000)	Period 3 ('000)
Passenger vehicles	4.2	3.9	3.0
Motor cycles	0.7	0.8	0.4
Light commercial vehicles	5.6	5.1	4.5
Rigid trucks	7.5	6.9	6.7
Articulated trucks	28.2	24.1	26.0
Non-freight carrying trucks	4.8	3.9	4.9
Buses	10.3	8.3	6.0
Total	4.6	4.1	3.4

Average kilometres travelled, type of vehicle by period

["","Period 1","Period 2","Period 3"]

[["Passenger vehicles","Motor cycles","Light commercial vehicles","Rigid trucks","Articulated trucks","Non-freight carrying trucks","Buses","Total"],[[4.2000000000000002],[0.69999999999999996],[5.5999999999999996],[7.5],[28.199999999999999],[4.7999999999999998],[10.300000000000001],[4.5999999999999996]],[[3.8999999999999999],[0.80000000000000004],[5.0999999999999996],[6.9000000000000004],[24.100000000000001],[3.8999999999999999],[8.3000000000000007],[4.0999999999999996]],[[3],[0.40000000000000002],[4.5],[6.7000000000000002],[26],[4.9000000000000004],[6],[3.3999999999999999]]]

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Period 1 – 1 July 2019 to 31 October 2019

State and territory

In Period 1:

New South Wales registered vehicles travelled the most with 28,728 million kilometres, this accounted for 32.0% of all kilometres travelled
Victoria contributed the second largest number of kilometres, with 23,432 million kilometres (26.1%), followed by Queensland with 18,169 million kilometres (20.2%)
The Northern Territory contributed the least, travelling 757 million kilometres (0.8%)

Key statistics by state and territory of registration - Period 1
State / Territory	Total kilometres travelled	Fuel consumed	Total tonnes carried	Total tonne-kilometres travelled
	(million)	(megalitres)	(million)	(million)
NSW	28,728	3,706	194	18,725
Vic.	23,432	3,094	209	22,445
Qld	18,169	2,665	184	20,380
SA	5,972	830	61	6,209
WA	9,296	1,368	97	11,280
Tas.	2,015	278	17	1,322
NT	757	112	8	1,415
ACT	1,397	166	4	252
Aust.	89,767	12,219	773	82,027

Vehicle type

In Period 1 motor vehicles travelled a total of 89,767 million kilometres.

Passenger vehicles contributed the most and travelled 62,063 million kilometres (69.1%)
Light commercial vehicles travelled 19,289 million kilometres (21.5%)
Rigid trucks travelled 3,912 million kilometres (4.4%)
Articulated trucks travelled 2,913 million kilometres (3.2%)
Motor cycles, non-freight carrying trucks and buses travelled 1,590 million kilometres (1.8%)
Total fuel consumed by all vehicles was 12,219 megalitres

Key statistics by type of vehicle – Period 1
Vehicle type	Total kilometres travelled	Fuel consumed	Total tonnes carried	Total tonne-kilometres travelled
	(million)	(megalitres)	(million)	(million)
Passenger vehicles	62,063	6,843	.	.
Motor cycles	590	31	.	.
Light commercial vehicles	19,289	2,433	54	3,518
Rigid trucks	3,912	1,095	351	15,578
Articulated trucks	2,913	1,547	368	62,931
Non-freight carrying trucks	102	21	.	.
Buses	898	249	.	.
Total	89,767	12,219	773	82,027

Period 2 – 1 November 2019 to 29 February 2020

State and territory

Compared to Period 1:

New South Wales registered vehicles drove 21,386 million kilometres, down 7,342 million kilometres (25.6%)
New South Wales vehicles used less fuel consuming 3,001 megalitres, down 705 megalitres (19.0%)
Western Australian vehicles were the only vehicles to record an increase, travelling 9,956 million kilometres, up 7.1%

Key statistics by state and territory of registration - Period 2
State / Territory	Total kilometres travelled	Fuel consumed	Total tonnes carried	Total tonne-kilometres travelled
	(million)	(megalitres)	(million)	(million)
NSW	21,386	3,001	228	15,444
Vic.	23,298	2,980	236	18,078
Qld	18,158	2,500	137	14,778
SA	5,568	775	61	5,521
WA	9,956	1,378	124	12,274
Tas.	1,721	236	16	1,395
NT	669	90	7	910
ACT	1,272	145	3	182
Aust.	82,028	11,105	813	68,582

Vehicle type

Compared to Period 1:

Kilometres travelled by all vehicles was 82,028 million kilometres, down 8.6%
Passenger vehicles accounted for the largest decrease in kilometres, travelling 57,113 million kilometres, down 4,950 million kilometres (8.0%)
Light commercial vehicles had the second largest decrease, travelling 17,333 million kilometres, down 1,956 million kilometres (10.1%)
Fuel consumed by all vehicles was 11,105 megalitres, down 9.1%

Key statistics by type of vehicle – period 2
Vehicle type	Total kilometres travelled	Fuel consumed	Total tonnes carried	Total tonne-kilometres travelled
	(million)	(megalitres)	(million)	(million)
Passenger vehicles	57,113	6,322	.	.
Motor cycles	692	47	.	.
Light commercial vehicles	17,333	2,155	57	2,669
Rigid trucks	3,539	1,024	370	12,434
Articulated trucks	2,510	1,332	386	53,479
Non-freight carrying trucks	104	25	.	.
Buses	737	201	.	.
Total	82,028	11,105	813	68,582

Period 3 – 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020

State and territory

Compared to Period 2:

All State and Territories except Tasmania experienced a decrease in kilometres travelled in period 3
Motor vehicle use in Tasmania increased by 5.5% to 1,816 million kilometres
Victorian registered vehicles had the largest decrease, travelling 16,728 million kilometres, down 6,570 million kilometres (28.2%)
Queensland registered vehicles had the second largest decrease, travelling 14,319 million kilometres, down 3,839 million kilometres (21.1%)

Key statistics by state and territory of registration – Period 3
State / Territory	Total kilometres travelled	Fuel consumed	Total tonnes carried	Total tonne-kilometres travelled
	(million)	(megalitres)	(million)	(million)
NSW	18,804	2,799	182	17,299
Vic.	16,728	2,238	157	18,596
Qld	14,319	2,179	165	17,508
SA	4,868	669	47	6,499
WA	8,321	1,331	110	10,996
Tas.	1,816	252	17	1,137
NT	590	86	11	916
ACT	887	103	3	140
Aust.	66,334	9,657	692	73,090

Vehicle type

Compared to Period 2:

Kilometres travelled by all vehicles was 66,334 million kilometres, down 19.1%
Passenger vehicles accounted for the largest decrease, travelling 43,625 million kilometres, down 13,488 million kilometres (23.6%)
Light commercials had the second largest decrease, travelling 15,423 million kilometres, down 1,910 million kilometres (11.0%)
Articulated trucks had the largest increase with 2,755 million kilometres travelled, up 245 million kilometres (9.8%)
Fuel consumed by all vehicles was 9,657 megalitres, down 13.0%, reflecting the reduction in distance travelled

Key statistics by type of vehicle – Period 3
Vehicle type	Total kilometres travelled	Fuel consumed	Total tonnes carried	Total tonne-kilometres travelled
	(million)	(megalitres)	(million)	(million)
Passenger vehicles	43,625	4,906	.	.
Motor cycles	394	24	.	.
Light commercial vehicles	15,423	2,070	48	2,692
Rigid trucks	3,536	1,025	301	13,725
Articulated trucks	2,755	1,462	344	56,673
Non-freight carrying trucks	110	28	.	.
Buses	491	141	.	.
Total	66,334	9,657	692	73,090

Freight

Freight movement, measured in tonne-kilometres, reduced slightly during the natural disasters and COVID-19 pandemic experienced during periods 2 and 3.
Freight vehicles in period 1 travelled 82,027 million tonne-kilometres. This decreased to 68,582 million tonne-kilometres in period 2, down 16.4%. From period 2 to period 3 there was an increase of 6.6% with 73,090 tonne-kilometres.
Articulated trucks travelled 62,931 million tonne-kilometres in period 1. This decreased to 53,479 tonne-kilometres in period 2, down 15.0%. From period 2 to period 3 there was an increase of 6.0% with 56,673 tonne-kilometres travelled.
Rigid trucks and light commercial vehicles showed decreases in tonne-kilometres travelled from period 1 to 2. Rigid trucks decreased by 20.2% and light commercial vehicles decreased by 24.1%. Both showed increases from period 2 to period 3, with rigid trucks travelling 13,725 million tonne-kilometres in period 3 (up 10.4%) and light commercial vehicles travelling 2,692 million tonne-kilometres in period 3 (up 0.9%).

Total tonne-kilometres travelled, type of freight vehicle by period
	Period 1 (m)	Period 2 (m)	Period 3 (m)
Light commercial vehicles	3,518	2,669	2,692
Rigid trucks	15,578	12,434	13,725
Articulated trucks	62,931	53,479	56,673
Total freight vehicles	82,027	68,582	73,090

Total tonne-kilometres travelled, type of freight vehicle by period

["","Period 1","Period 2","Period 3"]

[["Light commercial vehicles","Rigid trucks","Articulated trucks","Total freight vehicles"],[[3518],[15578],[62931],[82027]],[[2669],[12434],[53479],[68582]],[[2692],[13725],[56673],[73090]]]

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APA

Citation

Sub-annual motor vehicle use estimates, July 2019 to June 2020

APA

Citation

Key statistics

Period 1 – 1 July 2019 to 31 October 2019

State and territory

Vehicle type

Period 2 – 1 November 2019 to 29 February 2020

State and territory

Vehicle type

Period 3 – 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020

State and territory

Vehicle type

Freight

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