Newcastle upon Tyne licensed 5,738 private hire vehicles on 1 April 2026. That is the fifth-largest private hire fleet in England, and about one Newcastle licence for every 56 residents.
The count is where the plate was issued. The Department for Transport says a vehicles-per-head figure is the number licensed by that council, not the number working on that council’s streets (taxi and private hire vehicle statistics, England 2026).
The count
The same tables put London first, on 93,316 private hire vehicles, then Wolverhampton on 37,967, Bradford on 6,698 and Birmingham on 6,376. Newcastle is next, on 5,738. England as a whole had 290,000 private hire vehicles.
The same report says Newcastle’s private hire fleet grew by 1,530 vehicles from 2024, about 36%. That puts the 2024 figure at 4,208. The city’s own licensing policy, in force from 1 November 2023, listed 3,196 private hire vehicles at the time it was written (Newcastle hackney and private hire policy).
A graphic from a group calling itself On Your Side says the fleet stood at 2,008 in 2021, and calls the rise to 5,738 a 185.8% increase. That percentage is what those two numbers produce. The 2021 starting figure is the graphic’s. It is not in the 2026 statistical bulletin.
Hackney carriages are a separate fleet. The 2023 policy listed 591 hackneys against a limit of 780. The same policy says licensing authorities have no power to limit the number of private hire vehicles.
One licence for every 56 people
This puts Newcastle at 17.9 private hire vehicles per 1,000 residents. A thousand divided by 17.9 is about 56, which is the graphic’s “one Newcastle-licensed private hire vehicle for every 56 people.”
That ratio uses the resident population of the licensing area. It does not show how many of those cars are on Newcastle ranks, or how many are working in Gateshead, North Tyneside or further away on an operator licensed in the same district as the driver and the vehicle.
The £186.99 day
The graphic’s other headline is £186.99 a day. That is not a fare and not a survey of takings. It is the group’s model of what a five-day week needs to reach £934.95.
The arithmetic is 45 hours at the National Living Wage, plus £363 of operating costs. From 1 April 2026 the rate for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour (National Living Wage). Forty-five hours at that rate is £571.95. Add £363 and the week is £934.95. Divide by five and the day is £186.99.
The graphic says the £934.95 is a conservative benchmark, before tax and National Insurance, with tips left out. It does not split the £363. The National Living Wage is a legal floor for workers. It is not, by itself, a required wage for a self-employed private hire driver. The graphic uses it as the pay line in the model.
What has been sent to the council
The graphic says a 31-page evidence report was submitted to Newcastle City Council on 7 October 2026, and that formal questions are waiting on answers. It points drivers who want to respond in confidence to enquiries@onyoursidehelp.co.uk. The report itself is not on the council’s licensing pages, and no council reply is in the material behind the graphic.