In 2023, 20,400 people lost their lives in road crashes across the EU, marking a 1% decrease from the previous year, with 46 road deaths per million inhabitants. While the long-term trend shows a 10% reduction compared to 2019, the current pace of decline falls short of the required 4.5% annual reduction needed to achieve the EU's goal of halving road deaths by 2030.
Progress continues to be very uneven between Member States: in 2023, Czechia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Finland registered their lowest figures since modern records began. Poland reported a 35% drop in the number of fatalities between 2019 and 2023 while Ireland reported an increase of 31%. However, the overall road fatality rate per capita in Poland remains above the EU average while Ireland’s is below; and the overall ranking of countries’ fatality rates has not changed significantly, with the safest roads in Sweden (22 deaths per million inhabitants) and Denmark (26/million), while Bulgaria (82/million) and Romania (81/million) reported the highest fatality rates in 2023.
The figures published today reveal the final numbers of road fatalities for 2023, following the publication of preliminary data in March 2024.
Estimates for the first semester of 2024
Preliminary figures for the first six months of 2024 indicate the number of deaths on EU roads has remained the same, compared with the same period in 2023. Some Member States, including Austria, Lithuania and Slovenia have recorded notable falls of more than 25%. Other countries have seen a significant increase to date. Monthly fluctuations however make accurately predicting the entire year difficult.
Background
In 2018, the EU set itself a 50% reduction target for road deaths – and, for the first time, also serious injuries – by 2030. This was set out in the European Commission's Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety and EU road safety policy framework 2021-2030, which also laid out road safety plans aiming to reach zero road deaths by 2050 (‘Vision Zero’). As the Court of Auditors recently pointed out, unless significant efforts are made, targets will not be achieved.
In March 2023, the Commission put forward a package of proposals tackling road safety, including updated requirements for driving licences and better cross-border enforcement of road traffic rules.
Road safety has also been a core element of recent EU mobility policy initiatives, including the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the new TEN-T Regulation and the Urban Mobility Framework. In its proposal for a European Declaration on Cycling, the Commission acknowledges that safety is a prerequisite for encouraging people to cycle, and is working to prepare guidance for quality requirements regarding vulnerable road users, including cyclists.
Latest number of road fatalities in the EU and EFTA countries
| 2023 data | 2024 data (first six months) | |||||
| Absolute number | Rate per million population | % change in absolute number in 2023 in relation to: | Trend in relation to same period in: | |||
| 2023 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | Average 2017-19 | 2023 | |
| EU-27 | 20 400 | 46 | -1% | -10% | -12% | - |
| Belgium | 501 | 43 | -7% | -22% | -19% | ↓ |
| Bulgaria | 526 | 82 | -1% | -16% | -18% | ↓↓ |
| Czechia | 502 | 46 | -5% | -19% | -19% | - |
| Denmark | 162 | 27 | 5% | -19% | -11% | ↓↓ |
| Germany | 2 839 | 34 | 2% | -7% | -10% | - |
| Estonia | 59 | 43 | 20% | 13% | 6% | ↓↓* |
| Ireland | 184 | 35 | 19% | 31% | 29% | ↑↑* |
| Greece | 637 | 61 | -3% | -7% | -10% | - |
| Spain | 1 806 | 38 | 3% | 3% | 1% | ↑ |
| France | 3 167 | 48 | -3% | -2% | -4% | ↑ |
| Croatia | 274 | 71 | 0% | -8% | -13% | ↑↑ |
| Italy | 3 039 | 52 | -4% | -4% | -8% | - |
| Cyprus | 34 | 37 | -8% | -35% | -34% | - |
| Latvia | 142 | 75 | 26% | 8% | 2% | ↓↓ |
| Lithuania | 160 | 56 | 33% | -14% | -13% | ↓↓ |
| Luxembourg | 26 | 39 | -28% | 18% | -6% | ↓↓* |
| Hungary | 472 | 49 | -12% | -22% | -24% | - |
| Malta | 16 | 30 | -43% | 0% | -9% | ↓↓* |
| Netherlands | 608 | 34 | -7% | 4% | 6% | - |
| Austria | 402 | 44 | 9% | -3% | -3% | ↓↓ |
| Poland | 1 893 | 52 | 0% | -35% | -34% | ↑ |
| Portugal | 642 | 61 | 4% | -7% | -3% | ↓↓ |
| Romania | 1 545 | 81 | -5% | -17% | -18% | - |
| Slovenia | 82 | 39 | -4% | -20% | -17% | ↓↓ |
| Slovakia | 266 | 49 | 0% | -1% | -1% | ↑↑ |
| Finland | 183 | 33 | -7% | -13% | -20% | ↓↓ |
| Sweden | 229 | 22 | 1% | 4% | -14% | ↓↓ |
| Switzerland | 236 | 27 | -2% | 26% | 9% | ↑↑ |
| Norway | 110 | 20 | -5% | 2% | 2% | ↑* |
| Iceland | 8 | 21 | -11% | 33% | -40% | ↑↑* |
| Serbia | 503 | 74 | -9% | -6% | -9% | n/a |
Source: CARE (Community Road Accident) database. Figures are generally those as reported by police. Several countries have a significant degree of international traffic which impacts on the number of fatalities in the country. The percentage changes in the table are based on the absolute number of fatalities, not the rate per million inhabitants. Population data are from Eurostat.
Notes: 2023 data are provisional for Ireland and Greece. For the Netherlands, the number of fatalities registered by the police is under-reported and equates to around 85-90% of the total number published nationally. In 2023, the overall total was 684. For Portugal, 2017 data does not include two NUTS regions (Azores and Madeira), which impacts slightly on the percentage change from 2017-2019. In Liechtenstein, there were no fatalities in 2023. For 2024, Belgian data refers to the first quarter only.
| Legend for final column: | |
| - | largely unchanged (+-5%) |
| ↓ | down, to a degree (>5-10%) |
| ↓↓ | down significantly (>10%) |
| ↑ | up, to a degree (>5-10%) |
| ↑↑ | up significantly (>10%) |
| n/a | data not available |
| * | the change in the absolute number was <10 fatalities |
Road fatalities per million population, 2019-2023
European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO)
As part of the ERSO, the Commission is also publishing a new set of nine Facts and Figures reports ranging from serious injuries to single vehicle crashes and from cyclists to new forms of mobility. A thematic report on powered-two-wheelers has also been published.
Details
- Publication date
- 10 October 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport