62% of adult population has a driving licence

Roughly 62% of all over-18s hold a valid driving licence, according to regional statistics published by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday.

The statistical report shows there were 272,333 driving licence holders in Malta and Gozo in 2021. This marked a 2.4% increase over the figures for 2020.

Meanwhile, there were 413,019 licensed vehicles in Malta and Gozo that same year. The largest proportion of licensed vehicles was recorded in the Northern Harbour district at 26%.

This means that there were roughly 1.5 cars for every driving licence holder across Malta and Gozo.

The Gozo and Comino district registered the highest ratio of vehicles to total residents, at 1.2 cars for every resident. The ratio was lowest in the Northern Harbour district, with 0.6 cars for every resident.

Aged vehicles

In 2020, the average age of passenger cars stood at almost 15 years, with the Southern Harbour district recording the highest average age at 16.2 years. The Gozo and Comino district registered the second-highest average at 15.8 years.

Reported traffic accidents in 2021 increased by 18.3% compared to the previous year, with almost 36% of total accidents recorded in the Northern Harbour district.

The Northern Harbour district is made up of various high-traffic localities like Birkirkara, Hamrun, Qormi, Msida, Santa Venera and Sliema.

Indeed, Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traffic accidents, followed by Qormi and Mosta.

However, the Gozo and Comino district registered the lowest number of accidents, with only 895 cases.

Traffic-related contraventions issued by police increased by a whopping 102.7% in 2021 compared to the previous year. Contraventions issued by local wardens increased by 43.8% in the same time period, with most of these contraventions issued in the Northern Harbour district.

San Pawl il-Baħar was a hotspot for traffic contraventions in 2021. Local wardens issued 19,729 contraventions in the locality alone, the highest number in 2021 followed by 16,854 issued in Sliema.

Similarly, Transport Malta (TM) issued 1,331 transport-related contraventions in San Pawl il-Baħar in the same year. Qormi registered the second-highest number of TM contraventions with just 524 fines.

Speed camera contraventions totalled 45,504 in 2021. The speed camera installed at Triq in-Nutar Zarb in Attard caught the most over-speeding vehicles at 7,197 contraventions.