Band 8+: The charts give information about the percentage of men and women who had driving licences in one European country in various years. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar charts illustrate the percentage of males and females holding driving licenses in a thirty-year period from 1976 to 2006 and the rates of young drivers between 17-20 years old of both genders in 1996 and 2006 in one European country.

Overall, the percentage of driving licenses ownership for both gender experienced an upward trend, with men consistently outnumbering women; however the total numbers of young drivers witnessed a marginal decrease.

In 1976, the percentage of women possessing driving licenses was 30%, which then experienced a stable increase and reached its peak of 60% in 2006. Meanwhile, the total percentage of licensed male drivers recorded a slight rise from 1976 to 2006, which peaked at 80% in the final year. During the thirty-year period, the noticeable 40% gap between two genders in 1976 had reduced to 20%.

In addition, in 1996, the proportions of young male drivers started at 50%, eventually reducing slightly to 45% in the following 10 years. A similar downward trend was observed among young women, with a decrease of nearly 10%, falling from almost 30% in 1996 to 20% in ten years’ time.