38,000 new drivers in 10 years on Estonian roads
Despite the population of Estonia declining by 45,000 people since 2005, the number of people with a driver's license has gone up by 38,000.
In 2005, 43.9 percent of the population had a driver's license. That figure increased to 45.9 percent by 2010 and is now at 48.2 percent, Autoleht reported.
The bulk of the growth has come in new female drivers – 20,000 new women drivers since 2010. The number of male drivers increased by just over 2,000 during the same period. Currently 38.4 percent of women in Estonia have a driver's license. That figure for men is 59.4 percent.
Compared to neighboring nations, a higher percentage of Estonians can legally drive than Latvians (42.5 percent of the population has a drivers license), but Lithuania (52.5 percent) and Finland (67.3 percent) are still ahead.
Editor: J.M. Laats