The Department for Transport does not have data on the average fuel efficiency of all cars sold in the UK. However, a fully comprehensive dataset of fuel efficiency data for new cars is available for the UK from 2001 in accordance with EU Decision 1753/2000/EC. Table 1 shows average fuel efficiency of new cars sold in the UK between 2001 and 2008 measured in grams of carbon dioxide per km (gCO2/km). These figures have been used to calculate the percentage change in fuel efficiency for each year.
Fuel efficiency (gCO2/km) Annual percentage change 2001 177.6 -1.9 2002 174.8 -1.6 2003 172.7 -1.2 2004 171.3 -0.8 2005 169.7 -0.9 2006 167.7 -1.2 2007 164.7 -1.8 2008 158.2 -4.0 Source: DVLA