Brunei maintains one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, statistics from the Department of Economic Planning and Development's revealed.

Statistically, there are 2.65 people per vehicle.

There were 148,186 vehicles registered with the Land Transport Department in 2011 up 30% from 2010. The Sultanate's current population stands at 393,372.

Vehicle ownership is expected to reach more than 160,000 by the end of 2012, the department estimates, with an average of 1,600 cars being registered each month.

This puts Brunei ninth in the world in terms of vehicles per capita, behind Monaco, the United States, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Australia, Iceland and New Zealand, according to the World Bank.

However, data from the weekly news magazine The Economist ranks Brunei top in terms of car ownership per 1,000 population. There are 691 cars per 1,000 people.

Easy car purchase bank loans and attractive deals from dealers have made cars more affordable for Bruneians. The high level of car ownership can also be attributed to the absence of a comprehensive transport system, low import tax and the low price of petrol, with unleaded fuel costing just 53 cents (US$ 0.43) a litre.

The Department of Economic Planning's recently published Statistical yearbook stated that new vehicles registered with the Land Transport Department in 2011 numbered 15,900, up 5% from 2010.

During a session of the Legislative Council this year, Development Minister Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman said traffic congestion had become a pressing issue, which the ministry was looking to address.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi attributed traffic congestion to rising car ownership, which is growing at a rate of 4% per year.

Meanwhile, the annual population is increasing by 3%.

"Building roads alone will not solve the traffic problem," he said.

The minister said the number of cars could exceed the number of residents if policies were not implemented to discourage excessive car ownership.

Singapore has taken strong measures to curb car ownership. Its quota system means buyers must pay for a "Certificate of Entitlement", numbers of which are capped at about 30,000 a year.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi said such measures could be implemented in Brunei if congestion did not improve.