Band 7+: 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 charts illustrate the percentage of men and women holding driving licences in one European country between 1976 and 2006, as well as the proportion of young drivers aged 17-20 in 1996 and 2006.

Overall, what stands out from the chart is that the males consistently recorded a higher proportion of driving licence holders than females thoughout entire the period. Both genders experienced steady growth in licence ownership, with the gender gap narrowing considerably by 2006.

Looking first at licenced driver, the proportion of men remained relatively stable at approximately 70% from 1976 to 1981, and then increased steadily to reach 80% in 2006. By contrast, women rose much faster overall, climbing from 30% in 1976 to precisely 60% in the final year, but this remained sighnificantly lower than the level recorded for men.

Turning to the 17-24 age group, around half of young men and 30% of young women held a licence in 1996. However, the male category fell from 50% to 45%, while the figure for female witnessed a considerable decline, pluging from 30% to 20% in a decade later.