WILLEMSTAD - The number of vehicle registrations on Curaçao has risen sharply this year. In previous years, the island averaged around 8,000 new registrations annually, but by mid-November 2025, that number has already been reached, with more expected before year’s end.

According to Lernnerth Angela, Deputy Director of the Department of Traffic and Transport (Dienst Verkeer en Vervoer), the surge is largely due to the introduction of online registration in August, which has made the process faster and more transparent.

“This has significantly sped up the process,” Angela explained. “Registration time has dropped from three to four working days to just one or two.”

Motorists can now be seen driving with license plates beginning with the letter “M”, indicating the newest batch of registrations. “We’re already at M-80 and higher,” Angela said. While “M” is the final letter in the current license series, he noted that a new numbering system will be introduced next year to refresh the vehicle database and make previously used letters available again.

Currently, around 90,000 vehicles are officially registered in Curaçao. However, research shows that only about 80,000 vehicles are actively in use — that is, those that have been driven, taxed, and insured within the past five years.

The new online registration system is part of the government’s broader effort to modernize public services and improve data accuracy across various departments.