UK taxi industry

You asked

I would like to know the following statistics for the taxi industry in the UK.

DRIVERS

1) The growth in the number of taxi drivers for each year from 2010 to 2018?

2) The present number of private hire and hackney drivers in UK at this time?

TAXI Firms

1) The top 5 largest taxi firms in the UK, along with the number of drivers and the number of years in existence?

Passengers

1) How often does an average person use a taxi weekly?

We said

Thank you for your request asking for the growth in the number of taxi drivers every year from 2010-2018; the number of private hire and hackney taxi drivers in the UK at the present time; the top 5 largest taxi firms in the UK with the number of drivers and the number of years in existence; and how often does an average person use a taxi weekly.

Unfortunately, we do not currently hold Annual Population Survey (APS) or Labour Force Survey (LFS) tables showing the growth in the number of taxi drivers every year from 2010-2018. However, you can find LFS statistics regarding those in employment by occupation where you will find data on taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs broken down by employees and self-employed status in the UK;

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/employmentbyoccupationemp04

Unfortunately, the APS and the LFS cannot be used to produce estimates of the number of private hire and hackney taxi drivers in the UK at the present time and the frequency an average person uses taxi services weekly. However, information on the number of people usually traveling to work by taxi is available between 2007 and 2016 and it can be accessed on the ONS website;

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/adhocs/008005traveltoworkmethodsandthetimeittakestocommutefromhometoworklabourforcesurvey2007to2016

Moreover, the Family spending in the UK: financial year ending 2017 release has data on the average weekly spending on taxis and hired cars with drivers; this is published as part of Components of household expenditure, UK;

Table A1 - https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/datasets/componentsofhouseholdexpenditureuktablea1

Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide you with information about the top 5 largest taxi firms in the UK with the number of drivers and the number of years in existence as this is personal information. Under s.39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, personal information held by us (including that which identifies a body corporate), must not be disclosed. Furthermore, under s.9 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947, the disclosure of information relating to an individual undertaking obtained for statistical purposes is prohibited. Because the release of this information is prohibited by law, s.44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies.

If you require further assistance you can contact the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) team directly by e-mailing idbrdas@ons.gov.uk.

You could also consider contacting the Department for Transport regarding the requested information as they produce statistics which are specific to the taxi industry https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/taxi-statistics.