Household travel Te karore ā-whānau

Only a third of young people (aged 15–24) now have a driver licence compared with nearly half in 1989. Although the number of licence holders in the 20–24 age group has grown, this could decline as young people in the 15–19 age group without a licence become older and move into that age group.

Older New Zealanders are now also more likely to have a driver licence. Seventy-three percent of those aged 75 and over have a driver licence.

It should be noted that the minimum age for obtaining a learner’s licence rose from 15 to 16 on 1 August 2011.

The percentage of household spending on transport fluctuated between 13% and 16% from 1997 to 2017. In 2018 it moved up to a record high level of expenditure — NZD$23,009.

The number of households with access to a motor vehicle has generally increased with population.

The proportion of households that own at least one vehicle varies between regions — 2013 data shows that the region with the highest access is Tasman (95.9%) and the lowest is Wellington (88.3%).