FOI reference: FOI-2026-3461
You asked
I am submitting this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am seeking detailed statistics on Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) licence holders in Northern Ireland, specifically those holding categories relevant to commercial goods driving.
Please provide the following data for the most recent 12‑month period available:
1. Total Number of HGV Licence Holders in Northern Ireland
Broken down by licence category:
- Category C1 (vehicles 3.5–7.5 tonnes)
- Category C1+E
- Category C (rigid HGV)
- Category C+E (articulated HGV)
For each licence category, please provide:
- Number of valid licence holders
- Number of expired licence holders (if retained in your systems)
- Number of licence holders by age group (e.g., 16–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65+)
- Number of licence holders by gender, if recorded
2. Driver Qualification Card (CPC/DQC) Data
For the same period, please provide:
- Number of NI residents holding a valid Driver Qualification Card (DQC) for HGV (LGV) categories
- Number of DQC renewals issued
- Number of expired or lapsed DQCs within the period
3. Additional Dataset (if available)
If held and accessible:
- Number of licence holders not currently employed as HGV drivers (if linked employment/licensing data exists)
- Number of new HGV test passes (C and C+E) issued in NI during the period
- Any information held on inactive or non‑working licence holders, including those who have not renewed their DQC
4. Time Series Data (optional but helpful)
If feasible, please provide the same licence‑holder counts for the previous 5 years to allow trend analysis.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Unfortunately, we do not hold statistics on Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) licence holders in Northern Ireland. Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland may be better placed to assist with your request.
We are able to provide estimates of employment for HGV drivers, covered by SOC20 code 8211. These are available on NOMIS with a regional split (including NI statistics) using the regional queries:
- annual population survey - regional - occupation (SOC2010) by sex by employment type (Mar 2006 to Dec 2021)
- annual population survey - regional - occupation (SOC2010) by sex by employment type (Dec 2021 to Sep 2025)
These queries can report on any 4-digit occupation code with splits by sex, employee or self-employed, full- or part-time, and permanent or non-permanent.
If you require any further splits of this information, such as age, this can be requested via an adhoc request, although please note we do not hold information on whether someone is a HGV licence holder specifically. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources and agreement of costs, subject to our charging policy. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact socialsurveys@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further.