In 2019, there were 1,509 registered vehicles for every 1,000 driving licence holders, data published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed.

The Regional Statistics 2021 report shows that, last year, there were 402,427 licensed vehicles, with the largest proportion (26%) recorded in the Northern Harbour district.

Passenger cars accounted for 76.6 per cent of total licensed vehicles.

Driving licence holders amounted to 265,974, an increase of 1.0 per cent over 2019.

On a gender basis, there were 155,774 male and 110,200 female driving licence holders.

The data also shows that, at the end of 2019, there were 773 vehicles per 1,000 residents. This was less than the 781 vehicles per 1,000 residents registered in 2018.

In 2020, the average age of passenger cars in Malta region and Gozo and Comino region, stood at 15.91 and 15.49, respectively’.

During the same year, the number of public transport commuters totalled 33,778,974, with just 3.5 per cent of public transport commuters pertaining to Gozo and Comino region.

 

Traffic accidents

Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traffic accidents, with 1,029 cases.

Reported traffic accidents decreased by 24.5 per cent over 2019, with 34.7 per cent of total accidents recorded in the Northern Harbour district. Gozo and Comino district had the lowest registered accidents, 719 cases.

The number of traffic casualties amounted to 1,153 in 2020, down by 28.5 per cent over 2019

Of these casualties, 769 were drivers, of whom 578 suffered slight injuries and 140 suffered grievous ones, while injuries sustained by 10 drivers proved fatal.

During the same period, 147 passengers and 80 pedestrians suffered slight injuries, while 25 passengers and 62 pedestrians suffered grievous ones.

Moreover, injuries sustained by one passenger and one pedestrian eventually proved fatal, thus raising the total number of fatalities in 2020 to 12.

Once again, while the Northern Harbour district was the district with the highest reported traffic casualties, 341 cases or 29.6 per cent of the total traffic casualties, Gozo and Comino had 94 cases or 8.2 per cent of the total traffic casualties.

Ħal Qormi and in-Naxxar followed, with 643 and 547 reported accidents, respectively.

 

Contraventions

In 2020, traffic-related contraventions issued by the Police increased by 15.0 per cent from 2019. On the other hand, contraventions issued by Local Wardens increased by 18.4 per cent over 2019.

Most of these contraventions were issued in the Northern Harbour district.

St Paul’s Bay was highest in terms of contraventions issued by both the Police and Local Wardens, with 3,113 and 14,589 contraventions, respectively.

Speed camera contraventions totalled 43 269. The camera which caught the most over- speeding vehicles was the one installed in Triq in-Nutar Zarb, Ħ'Attard, totalling 7,754 contraventions.