Wealthy people in the UK are splashing out on more luxury supercars than ever before, official figures show.

More than 18,000 supercars – such as Ferrari, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Maserati and Koenigsegg models – were registered at UK addresses in 2021, a 19% increase on 2020.

Prices range from hundreds of thousands to more than £1m each, but concerns about the economy and the cost of living crisis for people on more modest incomes has done nothing to dampen enthusiasm for the trophy vehicles.

Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, which compiled the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency figures, said it appeared that wealthy people “have adopted a ‘you only live once’ mindset and have been more keen to spend on luxury items like supercars”.

David Kendrick, at UHY Hacker Young, said: “After a very difficult pandemic period, a lot of wealthy individuals treated themselves to a supercar last year.

“The wash of money from the government and central banks into the economy has inadvertently helped supercar sales in unexpected ways, such as ‘overnight’ cryptocurrency millionaires and extremely low-cost finance for supercars.”

The City of Westminster, which includes the central London areas of Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, is home to 553 supercars – making it the supercar capital of the UK.

Kensington and Chelsea comes second with 507 and Buckinghamshire, home to wealthy towns such as Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross, is third with 453. Woking grew the fastest in the top 10, with a 40% increase to 217 in 2021.

Out of the top-10 areas for supercars, only two are not in the south-east of England. East Cheshire, known for its “golden triangle” of wealthy villages, is home to some of the most famous Manchester and Liverpool-based footballers and 321 supercars. The other is Birmingham with 175 supercars.

Ferrari was the most popular supercar brand, with 11,954 cars on the road. However Lamborghini ownership has grown the quickest of any supercar, with a 59% increase to 2,419 in 2021.