In 2021, about ***** million U.S. licensed drivers were aged between 20 and 24 years, a dip compared to 2013 licensed driver figures. At almost **** million people, drivers aged between 30 and 34 represented the largest group of licensed drivers.

In England, the percentage of adults under 30 years of age in England who held a full car driving license within the last decade has fluctuated considerably. In this age group, the percentage of those holding a full car driving license generally decreased between 2009 and 2022: with one percent fewer license holders aged 21 to 29 but six percent more license holders aged 17 to 20. The percentage of driving license holders has been decreasing in the past two years for the age groups of 40 and above.

In 2021, there were almost 232.8 million licensed drivers in the United States. At around 27 million, California issued the highest number of licenses in the country that year. Not only is California the U.S. state with the highest number of licensed drivers, but it is also the most populous state in the U.S. overall, representing close to 12 percent of the country’s total population.

Young people are most likely to be involved in car accidents
When it comes to accidents, people aged 21 to 24 are most at risk. While there are more female license holders in the U.S., men are more likely to drive at least occasionally. Across all age groups, the male population has substantially higher death rates than the female population.

About licenses in the U.S. The driver’s license became mandatory in the United States in the early 20th century, with Missouri and Massachusetts being the first states to require an official license for operating certain types of motor vehicles. Such vehicles include motorcycles, passenger vehicles, trucks, trailers, or buses. New Jersey became the first state to require all drivers to pass a mandatory test before being granted an official driver’s license.

As of December 31, 2024, Japan had approximately **** million licensed drivers aged 50 to 54 years, the age group that has the most drivers with an **** percent share. As the overall population in Japan ages, license holders in the country follow this trend.

Analysis of ‘PPO16 - Median Age Upon Receipt of First-Issue Driving Learner Permit and Full Drivers Licences’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/2896bec9-bcf0-4a24-994f-9944092090e4 on 15 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Median Age Upon Receipt of First-Issue Driving Learner Permit and Full Drivers Licences

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

This statistic displays the number of driving licenses in Italy in 2017, broken down by age group. The number of driving licenses owned by drivers between 45 and 64 years of age amounted to ** million. This was about three times the number of licensed drivers younger than **.

Thailand Number of Driving Licence: Life Type: Private Automobile data was reported at 6,172,559.000 Unit in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6,186,696.000 Unit for 2016. Thailand Number of Driving Licence: Life Type: Private Automobile data is updated yearly, averaging 6,172,914.500 Unit from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2017, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,192,154.000 Unit in 2009 and a record low of 3,849,726.000 Unit in 1997. Thailand Number of Driving Licence: Life Type: Private Automobile data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Land Transport. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Thailand – Table TH.TA011: Number of Driving License Issued under Motor Vehicle Act.

According to a survey conducted in 2017, having a driving license in Denmark was most common among people aged 30 to 59 years. 93 percent of respondents in this age group stated to have one and one percent stated to have had a driving license. By comparison, 70 percent of 70-to-85-year-olds answered owning a driving license. A similar situation is found in other European countries, such as Italy or England.

Driving education

The statistic is based on driving licenses for ordinary light passenger cars in 2016. In Denmark, people must be at least 17 years to get a driving license, although they can start their lessons three months before they turn 17 years. Afterwards they have to pass a theoretical and a practical test, which cost 600 Danish kroner (as of 2018). The average household expenditure on driving education increased in recent years and peaked in 2017, with an amount of 677 Danish kroner.

Validity of driving licenses

The license that people acquired before January 2013 is valid until turning 70 years old. Since that date, Danes must renew their driving license every 15 years until their 75th birthday, due to a new law. To keep the license afterwards, they have to present a medical certificate based on their general health condition. Statistically it has been shown that the longer people in Denmark own a driving license, the more they are prone to accidents.

Thailand Number of Driving Licence: Life Type: Motorcycle data was reported at 5,963,489.000 Unit in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5,981,620.000 Unit for 2016. Thailand Number of Driving Licence: Life Type: Motorcycle data is updated yearly, averaging 5,978,820.500 Unit from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2017, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,008,574.000 Unit in 2009 and a record low of 3,961,583.000 Unit in 1997. Thailand Number of Driving Licence: Life Type: Motorcycle data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Land Transport. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Thailand – Table TH.TA011: Number of Driving License Issued under Motor Vehicle Act.

While the percentage of male driving license holders has always been greater than that of female driving license holders, the gap between the two decreased significantly from 40 percent to nine percent between 1975/76 and 2019. It is also worth noting that the percentage of all adults carrying driving licenses has basically remained stable since 2002, with smaller variations, ranging from 70 to 75 percent.

In 2018, around half of the valid taxi driver licence holders in Hong Kong were 60 years old or older. The average age of the taxi drivers in Hong Kong has been increasing over the recent years.

In 2023, California had the most automobile registrations: almost 13.2 million such vehicles were registered in the most populous U.S. federal state. California also had the highest number of registered motor vehicles overall: nearly 30.4 million registrations.