UK vehicle statistics / NIU

How many NIU NQI motorcycles are left?

At the end of 2026 Q1, DfT recorded 763 licensed and 393 SORN vehicles in the UK within the NIU NQI generic-model group.

Looking at a NQI?

Population figures cannot tell you whether one particular car is taxed, MOT-valid or safe to buy.

Check its registration free for the official tax, MOT and mileage record. If the car is still worth pursuing, the optional £9.99 full history check adds outstanding-finance, stolen and insurance write-off checks.

Wondering whether one particular NQI is off the road? A free SORN check shows whether it is currently SORN, taxed or untaxed.

Is the NQI disappearing?

Licensed numbers peaked at 1,133 in 2022 Q4 and stand at 763 in 2026 Q1, down 33%. That is up 90% in the five years since 2021 Q1. A further 393 are declared SORN — 1 in 3 of the 1,156 still on the DVLA record is off the road, laid up, part-restored or waiting to be sold.

A falling population is worth knowing before you buy: it usually means fewer donor cars, fewer specialists and slower parts supply, and it is why a good example of a scarce model can hold its price while a neglected one is hard to sell at any price.

Recent quarterly trend

QuarterLicensedSORN
2026 Q1763393
2025 Q4791361
2025 Q3835328
2025 Q2873306
2025 Q1895270
2024 Q4925239
2024 Q3959212
2024 Q2982194
2024 Q11,034177
2023 Q41,008151
2023 Q31,020121
2023 Q2995143

Other NIU models

See how many of every NIU model are left

Source and limitations

Source: Department for Transport and DVLA, df_VEH0120_UK. Released 2026-07-15 under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

DVLA make and model fields are administrative data and can contain omissions or inconsistencies. These statistics describe model groups, not an individual registration.

Confidential cells marked [c] represent between 1 and 4 vehicles and are treated as zero in aggregates, so totals can be slightly understated.