Top 15 Countries by Annual Vehicle-Kilometers Traveled per Capita, 2025
Overview
Vehicle-kilometers traveled per capita (VKT per person) summarizes how many kilometers road vehicles travel in a country, scaled by population. It helps compare travel demand across countries with very different sizes and demographics.
Higher VKT per person often aligns with longer typical trip distances, more dispersed land-use patterns, and heavier reliance on private driving. Lower VKT per person can appear where trips are shorter, daily services are closer, and non-car options are competitive.
This edition reflects the maximum cross-country coverage that can be computed consistently from the listed source families.
Key takeaways
- VKT per person rises when daily life requires more distance between home, work, and services.
- Similar income levels can still produce different outcomes depending on density, zoning, and network design.
- Strong public transport access can coincide with lower VKT, but it does not automatically determine it.
- Comparisons depend on what each system counts as road traffic and which vehicle types are included.
- VKT measures usage; car ownership measures stock—these indicators can diverge.
Metric cards
This page focuses on travel intensity per person; it does not measure trip quality, equity, or system efficiency by itself.
Table 1 — Top — countries by VKT per capita
Top list| Rank | Country | VKT per person |
|---|
Ranking list and comparison view
The list below includes all countries available in the current coverage window. Values are annual vehicle-kilometers traveled per person.
Full ranking — Top — available countries
| Rank | Country | VKT per person |
|---|
Table 2 — Bottom — countries by VKT per capita
| Rank | Country | VKT per person |
|---|
Table 3 — VKT per capita vs public transport access (Top — overlap)
| Country | VKT per person | Public transport access (%) |
|---|
Correlation view (non-causal): VKT can differ even at similar public transport access levels because trip length, non-urban travel, pricing, and land-use patterns vary.
Scatter — VKT per person vs public transport access
Interpretation, limits, and methodology
Why this metric matters
- Urban planning: benchmarks how strongly daily life depends on distance and road travel.
- Infrastructure context: adds perspective when comparing network pressure across countries.
- Energy and emissions context: complements fuel, fleet, and ownership indicators when profiling transport intensity.
- Resilience: highlights exposure to travel-cost shocks when trip distances are structurally long.
What can distort results
- Scope differences: some systems cover all roads, others emphasize major networks.
- Vehicle coverage: inclusion of freight and buses can shift totals.
- Reporting cycles: traffic and population inputs may come from different collection windows.
- Cross-border travel: transit corridors and tourism can inflate traffic relative to resident population.
- Method alignment: comparable results require compatible definitions and denominators.
Methodology
VKT per capita is computed as total road vehicle-kilometers divided by population for the same observation year where possible. The coverage shown on this page reflects the overlap that can be computed consistently for this edition.
FAQ
Why can VKT be higher in one country than another?
VKT per person can rise with longer commute distances, dispersed housing and services, high reliance on private vehicles, and limited non-car options. It can also reflect corridor traffic and tourism relative to resident population.
How is VKT measured?
VKT is commonly derived from traffic counts, modelled network flows, administrative reporting, or fuel-based estimation depending on the statistical system. Definitions can vary by road class and vehicle coverage.
Does higher public transport access guarantee lower VKT?
Not necessarily. Access indicates availability near people, but total kilometers driven per person can remain high if trips are long, if driving stays attractive, or if non-urban travel is a large share of total driving.
Related indicators
Includes CSV tables and PNG chart images for “VKT per capita” (2025 edition).
