‘166,000 expats among 215,000 applicants for license last year’

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KUWAIT CITY, July 3: Recent statistics of the General Traffic Department indicates a total of 215,368 individuals constituting 49,644 Kuwaitis (23 percent) and 165,724 expatriates (77 percent) applied for practical and theoretical driving tests in 2017, reports Al-Rai daily.

It pointed to 90 percent success rate in the theoretical test, with 92,279 out of a total 102,821 applicants passing, while 101,279 applicants failed- including 32,786 Kuwaitis and 68,493 expatriates. It noted 95 percent of Kuwaiti applicants and 88 percent expatriates were successful.

Concerning the practical test, applicants of private vehicles, construction vehicles and motorcycles were 112,548 representing 24,666 Kuwaitis and 87,881 expatriates. 96 percent Kuwaitis and 89 percent expatriates passed their exam in the first attempt, statistics noted.

Some 94,231 applicants issued private licenses constituted 23,909 Kuwaitis and 70,322 expatriates, while 12,897 commercial driving licenses were issued alongside 2942 construction vehicles licenses and 2477 for motorcycle.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,738,275 driving licenses were issued as at the end of 2017, comprising 2,214,622 private licenses, 31,858 commercial licenses, 23,300 motorcycle licenses, 66 military vehicle licenses, 29,913 construction vehicle licenses and 151,790 unspecified, according to statistics of the Interior Ministry.

With regard to the number of vehicles licensed as at the end of 2017, private cars topped the list with 1,670,335, followed by 269,474 private transport vehicles, 33,417 private buses, 19,986 public transport vehicles, 581 orange taxis, 5783 call taxis, and 10,262 minicabs. On the age of vehicles, statistics showed that 51 percent of the overall 1,109,148 vehicles in Kuwait belong to models launched from 2011 to 2017 while 1,069,013 vehicles were made 8 to 10 years ago.

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