Manual vehicles have always been the most popular choice in the UK, but in recent years, there has been a slight increase in interest for automatic vehicles and automatic only licenses. The biggest reason for Manuals being the most popular, seems to strictly be price based, not the ease of use, as automatics are obviously the more effortless option.
When purchasing a vehicle, automatic versions of a model are typically £1,000 more than manuals. Additionally, on average automatic owners pay around £94.07 more on insurance per year. Those with a full license also tend to pay less on insurance, than those driving on an automatic only license.
So, upon purchasing a new vehicle, you will typically pay 5% more for an automatic and have to pay insurance that will typically be around 20% more than a manual vehicle. This difference is believed to be because of a higher level of technology that is put into automatic vehicles.