Driving is a special skill which has great use anywhere in the world. And for some expats, driving is a skill which is required of them in order to have better chances of landing a job in Kuwait, or anywhere in the world for that matter.
However, even if a foreign national has a driving license back home, he/she is still required to obtain one issued by the Kuwaiti government as per international driving laws.
Majority of Expats Have Driving Licenses, but Do Not Own Cars
The Ministry of Interior has recently released data on the total number of expat driving licenses and vehicles compared to those of citizens, which showed huge discrepancies, which may also have implications in the traffic situation in the country, as shared in a report by the Kuwait Times.
Based on the data reported, 616,000 vehicles are registered under expats’ names, while those registered under citizens sit at 1.39 million, which does not align with the current population in Kuwait of 4.715 million, where 3.31 million of which are composed of expat communities.
Additionally, statistics revealed that 1.664 million expats possess driving licenses in Kuwait compared to 616,000 vehicles registered under this population. The figures note that over a million of expats with driving licenses do not have their own vehicles.
Furthermore, since only 624,000 citizens hold driving licenses, over 60% of license holders in the country are expats.
With this, the burden of road congestion heavily falls on the shoulders of Kuwaitis who exceed expats by 40% when it comes to vehicle ownership in the country.
And while these numbers may somehow reflect the traffic situation in the country, it’s also important to note that mechanisms to limit road usage (i.e. through the use of public transport) are obviously lacking. Perhaps, this is one of the more important things which authorities can look into in relation to this emerging issue.