More and more people over 75 with a driver’s license

Figures from Statistics Netherlands show that on January 1, 2023, 995,000 people over 75 in the Netherlands had a driving license. That was almost 6 percent more than on 1 January 2022. The increase in the absolute number of over-75s with a driving license is fairly easy to explain. On the one hand, due to the aging population, there are more people over 75 than a year ago. In addition, current over-75s also have a driving license relatively more often than in the past. Of the approximately one million Dutch over-75s with a driving license, about 140,000 were 85 years or older (14 percent).

At the beginning of this year there were more people under 20 with a driving license than a year earlier. On January 1, there were about 191,000 Dutch people under the age of twenty with a driving license, 5.4 percent more than on January 1, 2021. Before the corona pandemic, however, there were more Dutch people under the age of 20 with a driving license. At the beginning of 2020 there were 227,000. According to Statistics Netherlands, this decrease is mainly related to the limited opportunities to take driving lessons or take a driving test during the pandemic.

People aged 75 and over with a driving license most often also own a car

A total of 11.5 million Dutch people had a driving license at the beginning of this year. That is 0.7 percent more than one year previously. Young people are more likely to not own a car. At the beginning of this year, 720,000 of the 1.8 million people under 30 with a driving license had a car (40 percent). By way of comparison: the car ownership percentage is 58 percent in the 30-40 age group and 61 percent in the 40-50 age group. People aged 75 and over with a driving license also most often own a car (75 percent).

In Staphorst and Rozendaal, 91.5 percent of residents over the age of 17 have a driver’s license, the highest percentage in the Netherlands. Driving license ownership is lowest in Amsterdam (61.8 percent).