21/04/2023 07:10
The prices for driving lessons and relevant services dropped by 1.6% in 2022 compared to 2021, while increasing in all other member states and by 4.8% overall in the EU, according to data released by Eurostat on the occasion of the Commission’s recent proposal for a comprehensive road safety package to improve safety for all road users, which includes the introduction of a digital driving license valid in all EU countries.
In 2022, prices for driving lessons, tests, licences and roadworthiness tests were, on average, 4.8% higher than in 2021, a rate of change almost three times the one in 2018, when it stood at +1.7% compared with 2017.
In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 crisis, the annual average rate of change (+1.6%) was lower than in 2019 (+2.0%). However, in 2021, this rate doubled, reaching +3.2%. This is in line with the general increase of inflation in services.
Among the EU countries, the highest annual average rates of change in prices for these services in 2022 were reported in Czechia (+19.6%), Bulgaria (+18.0%), Italy (+13.3%), Lithuania (+11.2%) and Poland (+11.1%).
In the same year, Cyprus was the only Member country (-1.6%) registering a negative value, with Croatia (+0.2%), Greece (+0.7%) and Ireland (+1.0%) recording the lowest positive rates.
In 2018, the annual average rates of change were far smaller: no EU country registered a two-digit increase. In that year, the average rates of change of prices for these services varied between -2.2% in Lithuania and +7.1% in Hungary. Cyprus recorded a 3.7% increase in prices for these services during that year.