Rarity / Land Rover / Defender

Land Rover Defender: how many are still registered?

69,729still registered

Land Rover Defender cars still registered with DVLA (licensed or SORN), across 145 recorded variants.

Most recorded on UK roads at once: 75,421 (2026 Q2) - 92.4% of that peak survives.

4,740 of the survivors (6.7%) are declared off-road (SORN) rather than taxed.

92.4% survives 2026 Q2 peak: 75,421

Declared off-road (SORN)4,740 · 6.7%

Derivatives

DVLA also registers other body types under the Land Rover Defender nameplate. Each is counted on its own page, so every figure on this one is cars only.

Land Rover Defender vans119,039still reg.Land Rover Defender lorries160still reg.Land Rover Defender buses and coaches9still reg.

By year

All 69,729 surviving Land Rover Defender cars, by the year each was built - not how many were on the road at the time. Across every year, 648 of these cars have gone since 2014, leaving 95.7% of the 2014 figure. That is the earliest real count of the same cars: DVLA publishes no production figures, so nothing here is a count of how many were built.

Year built1990 → 2025
15,0007,5000
19902025
Point at a year for the numbers

On the road over time

Total Land Rover Defender cars registered (licensed or SORN) at the end of each year.

75,421
1994log scale2026: 75,421
Point at the line for a year

Engine size and fuel

What is on the road now: the surviving Land Rover Defender cars split by engine capacity and by fuel, as recorded 2025. Engine sizes are DVLA's own bands and cover only the cars it holds a capacity for.

Engine size

1901cc to 2000cc10,877 cars · 15.5%
2401cc to 2500cc13,797 cars · 19.7%
2501cc to 2600cc527 cars · 0.7%
2901cc to 3000cc41,151 cars · 59.0%
4301cc to 4400cc803 cars · 1.1%
4901cc to 5000cc2,225 cars · 3.1%
Other sizes (29)346 cars · 0.4%

Fuel

Diesel57,161 · 81.9%
Petrol6,981 · 10.0%
Plug-in Hybrid Electric (petrol)5,560 · 7.9%
Other fuels (4)27 · under 0.1%

Own or buying a Land Rover Defender? Get its free DVLA tax and MOT history - and the paid report's own rarity figures for the exact variant - in seconds.

Check a reg free

Source: DVLA vehicle licensing statistics (DfT). Counts as of 2025, licensed and SORN vehicles both included. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Survivor counts are national registration figures, not a guarantee any particular car exists or is roadworthy - check a specific reg free.