The bar charts illustrate the overall proportion of males and females with license to drive a motor vehicle from 1976 to 2006 and demonstrate the percentage of younger drivers in17-20 age group only in two years between 1996 and 2006.
Overall, strikingly, the number of male drivers remained consistently higher than that of females throughout the period, indicating a greater preference for obtaining a driving license among men. Additionally, what stood out was that the figure for male drivers rose steadily by the end of the period. In contrast, the accompanying chart exhibited a downward trend among younger drivers.
Turning to the figure of male individuals who possess driving license, the category showed gradual improvement. Starting with the initial year the percentage was at 70, which was also similar for the next 1981. After that, it was followed by a negligible increase to 72% in 1986. By 1991 the figure stood at 75% before rising further to an exact 78% in 1996. Finally, over the following five years, the figure increased by a further 1%, reaching a peak of 80% in the final year of the period, meaning that four out of five male drivers held a driving license.
Likewise, the proportion of female drivers holding a driving license followed a similar upward trajectory, rising from 30% in 1976 to 60% at the end of the period. It is clear that the figure started at 30% in 1976 and then increased by 10 percentage points over the following decades, reaching 80% in 2006. In a similar manner, after standing at 35% in 1981, it rose by a further 9 percentage points to 53% by 2001.
Regarding the proportion of younger drivers aged 17-20, the figures experienced a steady decline throughout the period. In 1996, the proportion of male drivers stood at 50%, compared with just under 30% for females in the same year. By 2006, the pattern depicted a slight decrease, with the figure falling to approximately 45% for young male drivers and exactly 20% for their female counterparts.