The licence, county by county RO

First examination · Romania · 2018–2025

The driving test: one in two in Alba, one in five in Buzău

Here, “passed” means succeeding at both tests on the first presentation. Romania’s national rate has scarcely moved in eight years, even as counties change position and remain far apart. School, candidate, route and examiner all enter the same rate; what drives the gap remains unresolved.

Result sheet AGGREGATION / 2025
Candidates in aggregation382,776
National rate34.24%
Territorial gap27.5 pp
Reference year2025
27.5 ppbetween minimum and maximum
County aggregation: Top Școli Auto, based on DGPCI files2018–2025336 county-year observationsReviewed 22 July 2026

The geography of the first attempt

The same administrative measure produces sharply different county outcomes

Choose a year and county. The schematic map keeps approximate neighbourhoods while giving every territory the same reading area.

2025: the national rate is 34.24%; Buzău and Alba are separated by 27.5 pp.

−10 pp+10 pp

Swipe to see every county

Positions are approximate. Values and ranking are exact.

County record

Alba

48.64%

rank 1 of 42

3,119passed
6,413examined
86schools in the data
+14.4 ppversus national rate
+0.8 ppversus 2018
View county schools

Route 2018–2025

Alba against the national rate and county range

countycountrycounty range
The county rate describes all first examinations in that county and year. An individual candidate's experience also depends on licence category, school, route and examination.20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%20182019202020212022202320242025

The county rate describes all first examinations in that county and year. An individual candidate's experience also depends on licence category, school, route and examination.

Full table for the selected year

Centru		48.64%3,1196,41386+14.4 pp

Sud-Vest Oltenia		48.44%3,2516,71246+14.2 pp

Sud-Est		46.47%2,3975,15840+12.2 pp

Sud-Vest Oltenia		45.02%2,3485,21515+10.8 pp

Nord-Vest		44.38%2,8326,38152+10.1 pp

Vest		43.20%2,1805,04654+9.0 pp

Nord-Vest		43.13%5,58112,940144+8.9 pp

Sud-Vest Oltenia		42.98%3,0937,19640+8.7 pp

Centru		42.70%2,8386,64653+8.5 pp

Sud-Vest Oltenia		42.26%4,73711,20986+8.0 pp

Nord-Vest		41.66%2,4905,97776+7.4 pp

Sud-Est		40.58%4,08110,05679+6.3 pp

Nord-Est		38.95%4,76412,231112+4.7 pp

Nord-Est		38.81%3,4428,86951+4.6 pp

Sud-Muntenia		38.62%2,0905,41226+4.4 pp

Sud-Vest Oltenia		37.86%2,7297,20938+3.6 pp

Sud-Muntenia		37.32%5,61415,041126+3.1 pp

Vest		36.70%2,2846,22470+2.5 pp

Sud-Muntenia		36.32%4,69012,91295+2.1 pp

Sud-Muntenia		35.04%3,1989,12653+0.8 pp

Vest		34.87%4,40412,62964+0.6 pp

Sud-Muntenia		34.73%1,8985,46571+0.5 pp

Centru		34.57%1,5834,57928+0.3 pp

Sud-Est		34.43%2,2316,48048+0.2 pp

Nord-Est		31.73%3,0259,53489-2.5 pp

Nord-Est		31.39%3,1259,95696-2.8 pp

Nord-Vest		30.75%3,27710,65665-3.5 pp

Nord-Vest		30.71%1,2434,04763-3.5 pp

Centru		30.62%3,08010,058108-3.6 pp

Sud-Muntenia		30.46%1,6495,41356-3.8 pp

București-Ilfov		30.41%10,54534,681162-3.8 pp

Nord-Est		30.29%4,37014,426120-3.9 pp

Sud-Est		29.76%1,0153,41124-4.5 pp

Centru		28.82%2,2637,85171-5.4 pp

Centru		28.49%3,06210,746105-5.7 pp

Nord-Vest		27.75%2,3898,608113-6.5 pp

Sud-Muntenia		27.22%9013,31018-7.0 pp

București-Ilfov		25.33%1,8987,49258-8.9 pp

Sud-Est		24.82%3,21212,94269-9.4 pp

Nord-Est		24.76%4,75219,190110-9.5 pp

Vest		22.92%1,7257,52649-11.3 pp

Sud-Est		21.12%1,6487,80360-13.1 pp

Eight years in one view

The national rate barely moves; the extremes do

Each year shows the lowest and highest county rate. The blue point is the weighted national average.

County range and national rate, 2018–2025For each year, the chart shows the minimum, maximum and national pass rate.20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%60%20182019202020212022202320242025
National rate34,55% / 34,24%a 0.31 pp decline between 2018 and 2025
County gap31,5 / 27,5 pplowest at 22.6 pp in 2022
Schools in the data2.216 / 2.989+35%, with national candidate volume close to 2018

Persistence and reshuffling

Two years preserve the order. Seven years reshape it.

Pearson correlation is 0.87. A county's 2023 position strongly anticipates its 2025 position.

Two years preserve the order. Seven years reshape it.The diagonal indicates the same rate in both years. Points above it rose; points below it fell.20%20%25%25%30%30%35%35%40%40%45%45%50%50%55%55%AlbaBuzăuClujIașiTulceaPass rate 2023Pass rate 2025

What crash data show

The cases are visible. The risk rate remains unknown.

Police publish licence tenure for at-fault drivers in serious crashes. A risk rate also requires the number of active drivers in each group and their road exposure.

659drivers licensed for under one year involved at fault in serious crashes in 2023
under 1 year659 · 20.1%
1–5 years824 · 25.1%
6–10 years373 · 11.4%
11–15 years301 · 9.2%
16–20 years250 · 7.6%
21–25 years262 · 8.0%
26–30 years260 · 7.9%
31–35 years159 · 4.8%
36–40 years79 · 2.4%
over 40 years112 · 3.4%

Number of drivers. The published series totals 3,279 cases; percentages show each group's share of the series.

20244.235serious road crashes
20241.478people killed
20243.247seriously injured

Definition of the measure

What 34.24% measures

A

First examination

The rate follows candidates who pass both the theory and practical tests at the first presentation linked to their training file. The outcome after all attempts is a different measure.

B

Licence categories are combined

The aggregation combines categories A, B, C, D and the remaining licence categories. County differences may partly reflect the composition of those categories.

C

The causes remain undetermined

The dataset shows aggregate outcomes. School quality, candidate selection, examiner, route and local conditions all enter the same rate.

2025

Status of the 2025 source

For 2025, the map uses Top Școli Auto’s aggregation of files published by DGPCI: 382,776 examined candidates and 131,053 passes. Reports attributing the national total to DGPCI give 382,816 and 131,063. The difference is 40 examined candidates and 10 passes. The primary DGPCI file for 2025 could not be archived on 22 July 2026.

Downloadable data

The CSV retains the exact values used by the map and all 336 county-year observations.

Download the 2018–2025 dataDownload the checksum manifest

Sources

Secondary aggregation used

Top Școli Auto: statistics for 2009–2025

County and school data aggregated from DGPCI publications. Accessed 22 July 2026.

Open source
Official publication page

DGPCI: statistics page

The official publication page. The primary 2025 file was unavailable for local archiving on the review date.

Open page
Licence tenure

Romanian Police: 2023 Road Safety Bulletin

National distribution of at-fault drivers by licence tenure.

Open report
Crashes and casualties

Romanian Police: 2024 Road Safety Bulletin

National totals for serious crashes, deaths and serious injuries.

Open report

What remains solid

County outcomes occupy very different positions. Explaining them requires data on training and examination.

The map shows differences, persistence and change. Licence category, school, examiner, route and later safety outcomes could separate mechanisms that currently enter the same rate.