Data extracted in March 2025.
Planned article update: April 2026.
Highlights
In 2023, 20 380 persons were killed in road accidents in the EU, a decrease of 1.3% compared with 2022.
In 2023, 81 persons per million inhabitants were killed in road accidents in Bulgaria and Romania, the highest rates in the EU.
People aged 25 to 49 years old accounted for almost one third of the road fatalities in the EU in 2023.
Road accident fatalities, European Union
This article focuses on the number of persons killed in road accidents for the year 2023. The data are extracted from the CARE database (the Community database on road accidents resulting in death or injury). CARE contains detailed data on individual accidents collected by the EU countries from police and hospital sources. This allows a high level of disaggregation, but data consolidation takes considerable time.
The number of persons killed in road traffic accidents fell by 16% between 2013 and 2023
In 2003, the European Commission adopted its third European action programme for road safety, which aimed to halve the number of road deaths by 2010. While the initial target was not quite met by the end of 2010, it was decided to continue with a target of halving the overall number of road deaths in the EU by 2020, starting from 2010.
In 2021, the European Commission introduced the EU road safety policy framework 2021-2030 which make up the ‘Vision Zero’ - zero fatalities and serious injuries on European roads by 2050.
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The number of persons killed in road traffic accidents has fallen considerably over the last 10 years: the number of fatalities in the EU countries fell by 16% between 2013 and 2023. The decrease has been continuous over these years, with the exception of 2015, 2021 and 2022, when increases of 0.9%, 5.7% and 3.7%, respectively were observed compared with the previous years.
However, the lockdowns and other restrictions on mobility related to the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe may have had an impact on the number of fatalities in 2020 (-17.3% compared to 2019), as traffic levels were significantly reduced during this time.
The target of halving the number of fatalities in 2020 compared with 2010 was not met, despite traffic being significantly reduced in 2020.
In 2023, 81 persons per million inhabitants were killed in road accidents in Bulgaria and in Romania, the highest in the EU
Figure 2 presents the number of persons killed in road accidents in 2023 per million inhabitants. Overall, the rate of persons killed in road accidents in the EU was 46 per million inhabitants in 2023. There are considerable differences between EU countries as well as between EFTA countries.
Sweden, Denmark, Malta and Finland reported the lowest numbers, with 22, 27, 30 and 33 fatalities per million inhabitants, respectively. In contrast, Bulgaria and Romania had both the highest rate with 81 fatalities per million inhabitants.
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Among the EU countries, 9 registered 50 fatalities or more per million inhabitants, namely Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Italy, and Poland. These countries need to prioritize road safety measures to reduce the number and gravity of accidents. Three EFTA countries, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, reported relatively low rates of 20, 21 and 27 persons killed in road accidents per million inhabitants in 2023, respectively. Liechtenstein registered no accident fatalities.
Figure 3 shows that within the EU, Malta had the lowest number of persons killed in road accidents in 2013, 2022 and 2023, with only 17, 28 and 16 fatalities, respectively. Meanwhile, Italy had the highest number of fatalities in 2013 (3 401 persons killed), and France in 2022 (3 260) and in 2023 (3 154). In 2023, 3 EU countries registered more than 2 000 fatalities (compared to 4 countries in 2013): Germany, France and Italy. Five countries registered less than 100 fatalities: Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia. Among the EFTA countries, Switzerland registered the highest number of fatalities in all 3 of these reference years.
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All reporting countries registered a decrease in the number of persons killed in road accidents between 2013 and 2023, except for 2, namely Spain and Portugal. Compared with 2022, 10 EU countries saw their number of fatalities increase. France, with 60 more fatalities in 2023, registered the highest increase in terms of numbers. Sixteen EU countries registered a decrease, especially Italy, which registered 120 fatalities less in 2023 compared with 2022. Slovakia is the only country for which the number of fatalities remained the same, with 266 fatalities.
Men accounted for around three quarters of road accident fatalities between 2013 and 2023
Figure 4 highlights the evolution of road accident fatalities over the years, broken down by sex. Comparing 2013 with 2023, there has been a 13.2% decrease in fatalities involving males and a 18.8% decrease for females.
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In 2013, the total number of road accident fatalities was 18 054 for males and 5 735 for females (with an additional 909 of unknown sex). This corresponded to 73.1% males and 23.2% females among the fatalities (3.7% unknown).
Between 2013 and 2014, the total number of fatalities decreased from 18 054 to 17 842 for males and from 5 735 to 5 677 for females (909 and 1 013 unknown), maintaining a similar distribution of around 73% males and 23% females (4% unknown).
However, in 2015 and 2016 there were consecutive increases in male fatalities, which reached 18 328 in 2016. In 2016, there was a slight increase in female fatalities to 5 809. At the same time, the number of fatalities for which the sex was not reported decreased sharply, from 1 056 in 2015 to just 40 cases in 2016.
The following years, from 2017 to 2022, showed a relatively stable trend with slight decreases, with only 2020 being an exception due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total fatalities ranged from 18 048 in 2017 to 15 502 in 2021 for males and from 5 668 in 2017 to 4 367 in 2021 for females. A slight increase is then registered in 2022, both for males and females, where the number of fatalities increased to 15 944 and 4 691, respectively. 2023 saw a new slight decrease, to 15 678 fatalities for males and 4 656 for females. During this period, the balance between male and female fatalities remained stable, with males accounting for approximately 76% of the fatalities and females for around 23% (unknown around 1.2%).
In 2020, with particularly low-traffic levels due to the pandemic, there was a noticeable decrease in the total number of fatalities, with 14 935 male fatalities, a 15.8% decrease compared to 2019, and 4 191 for female fatalities, a 20.6% decrease compared to 2019. This resulted in a slightly higher proportion of males (78.0%) and lower of females (21.9%) in the overall fatalities in 2020.
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Among the EU countries and the EFTA countries, Iceland, Poland and Sweden (2022 data) registered the largest decreases in persons killed in road accidents between 2018 and 2023, with decreases of 55.6%, 33.9% and 29.9%, respectively. Only 6 countries registered an increase over this period: Ireland (2022 data), Malta (2022 data), the Netherlands, Slovakia, Norway and Switzerland with range from 1.3% to 55.6%.
Among males, 8 countries recorded increases over this period. Malta, Ireland and the Netherlands were the countries that recorded the highest increases, with 84.6%, 12.5% and 5.7%, respectively. Among the 7 countries that recorded a decrease of 20% or more in male fatalities, Iceland and Luxembourg recorded the most significant with a 50.6% and 38.7%, respectively.
Concerning female fatalities, 6 countries registered an increase: Ireland (2022 data), Latvia (2020 data), Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia and Norway, ranging from 3.2% to 40.0%. Four countries recorded decreases of 30% or more, Iceland (-66.7%), Poland (-41.6%) and Cyprus (-40.0%; 2022 data) being the largest.
With respect to the total number of fatalities, only 3 reporting countries registered more than 2 000 fatalities in 2023: Germany, France and Italy. These countries accounted for almost half (44.3%) of all fatalities in the EU. However, all of these 3 countries had registered more than 3 000 fatalities in 2018, just five years earlier, which confirms the downward trend.
In Greece, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta, males accounted for more than 80% of the fatalities in 2023. Concerning females, Latvia (2020 data), was the only country where women made up more than 30% of the fatalities (32%).
In 2023, people aged 25-49 years accounted for almost one third of road fatalities in the EU
Figure 5 shows that people aged from 25 to 49 years old accounted for the highest percentage of fatalities, representing 31.3% of reported deaths in 2023 (EU - estimated values). This age group is followed by those aged 65 years or over, with 30.6% of fatalities. Together, these two groups represented just over 60% of all road accident fatalities in Europe.
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The age group between 50 to 64 years accounted for 21.5% of the total fatalities, while individuals aged 18 to 24 years made up 11.6%. Among younger age groups, the age group 15 to 17 years old represented 2.3% of the total fatalities, and those less than 15 years old for 2.1%.
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Table 2 shows that in all EU countries, people aged less than 18 years old accounted for less than 10% of the fatalities, with the exception of Estonia (13.6%).
The age group 65 years old and older recorded the largest number of fatalities in 10 EU countries, in 1 EFTA country, and 1 candidate country: Denmark (41.4%), Germany (37.7%), Ireland (34.2%; 2022 data), Italy (34.3%), the Netherlands (43.8%), Austria (30.1%), Romania (30.4%), Slovenia (37.8%), Finland (34.1%), Sweden (36.1%), Switzerland (36.9%) and Serbia (33.2%).
Among the age group from 50 to 64 years old, Norway registered the largest share of fatalities, with 27.3%, while among the age group 18 to 24 years old, Cyprus registered the largest share of fatalities with 27.0% (2022 data). Malta is the only country where no fatality was recorded for people aged less than 18 years old (2022 data).
Passengers or drivers of passenger cars accounted for 44.7% of persons killed in 2023, while pedestrians accounted for 18.4%
Unsurprisingly, drivers and passengers of passenger cars represented the largest category of road traffic deaths in the EU in 2023 (estimated values), with 44.7% of all road traffic fatalities (see Figure 6). Pedestrians (18.4%) was the second largest category, ahead of motorcyclists and their passengers (17.4%).
Cyclists and e-bike riders (motorized cyclists) together accounted for 10.2% of EU road deaths in 2023. It should be noted that cycling deaths are under-reported: some accidents involving cyclists are not reported to the police.
The remaining vehicle categories together accounted for 9.2% of road accident fatalities in the EU in 2023: persons killed in accidents with light- and heavy-goods vehicles, buses and coaches, mopeds and ‘other’ (essentially, agricultural tractors and other motorised vehicles).
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In countries where cycling is widespread, such as the Netherlands, it comes as no surprise that cyclists account for a larger share of fatalities than in countries where cycling is less common. Table 3 shows that cyclists accounted for 27.0% of all road accident deaths in the Netherlands in 2023, followed by Belgium and Iceland with 19.6% and 12.5%, respectively.
At the other end of the scale, cyclists represented just 2.0% of all road accident deaths in Greece in 2022 (no 2023 data available). It should be noted that there were no road accident deaths involving cyclists registered in Malta in 2022 (no 2023 data available).
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Greece (29.1% – 2022 data) and Malta (28.6% – 2022 data) had the highest shares of motorcyclists among road fatalities in the EU, ahead of Portugal (25.7%) and Spain (25.2%). The remaining ‘two-wheeled’ category – mopeds – accounted for 8.6% of all road accident fatalities in Denmark, far from the next highest country (the Netherlands with 5.4%).
In 2023, the number of pedestrians killed in road accidents can still be considered as relatively high: 3 717 pedestrians were killed in the EU, accounting for 18.4% of all fatalities. However, this share varies considerably between EU countries, from around 11.9% in Sweden (2022 data) to 53.6% in Malta (2022 data). The share was also around 30% in Latvia (30.9% – 2020 data), Romania (30.6%) and Estonia (30.5%).
Rural roads accounted for 53.1% of the fatalities in 2023, while urban roads for 38.4%
The road accident fatalities in the EU have also been classified based on the type of road where the accidents occurred. Rural roads accounted for the highest number of fatalities, with 10 816 cases (53.1% of the total - estimated values), followed by urban roads with 7 816 fatalities (38.4%). Motorways had the lowest number of fatalities at 1 745 (8.6%), and there were a negligible number of fatalities with an unknown road type (only two fatalities).
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Among the EU countries, EFTA and candidate countries, 21 countries registered 50% or more fatalities on rural roads. The highest shares were registered in Malta (100.0% – 2022 data), Norway (77.3%), Estonia (76.3%), Latvia (69.8% – 2020 data), Sweden (68.7%), and Ireland (68.4% – 2022 data).
Five EU countries recorded shares below 40% of total fatalities for rural roads: Portugal (37.9%), Slovenia (37.8%), Romania (32.5%), Croatia (31.0%) and Cyprus (24.3% – 2022 data).
Only 7 countries registered shares above 10% for fatalities on motorways, with Spain registering the highest share with 19.1% of their total fatalities. No fatalities were registered on motorways in 5 countries (Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Malta, Norway and Liechtenstein).
The last category, representing the shares of fatalities on urban roads, shows large discrepancies between the reporting countries, with shares from 0% in Malta to 67.6% in Cyprus (2022 data).
Drivers accounted for more than 60.4% of the fatalities over the period from 2013 to 2023
In 2013, the EU recorded a total of 24 226 road accident fatalities (see Figure 8). The number decreased over the following years, reaching its lowest point in 2020 with 18 830 fatalities, but increasing slightly to 19 904 in 2021, 20 678 in 2022, and 20 379 in 2023 (2021 to 2023 – estimated value).
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Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadus)
Among the different types of road users, drivers consistently accounted for the highest number of fatalities each year (from 60.4 % to 66.9 %). In 2013, there were 14 638 fatalities among drivers, decreasing to 13 559 in 2023.
Pedestrians had the second-highest number of fatalities, with 5 199 in 2013 (21.5% of fatalities), declining to 3 717 in 2023 (18.2%). Passengers had the third-highest number of fatalities, starting at 4 092 in 2013 (16.9 % of all fatalities), decreasing to 3 091 fatalities in 2023 (15.2%).
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Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadus)
Drivers accounted for more than 50% of deaths on roads in all reporting countries with the exception of Estonia (49.2%), Romania (46.2%) and Malta (42.9%). Iceland is the only country which registered more than 80% of fatalities in this category, with 87.5%.
Passengers represented less than 20% of the fatalities recorded in 23 EU countries, 2 EFTA countries, and Serbia, with the smallest shares registered in Malta (3.6% – 2022 data), Belgium (9.6%), the Netherlands (10.7%) and in the EFTA country Switzerland (12.5%). In 4 EU countries, more than 20% of total fatalities concerned passengers: Bulgaria (27.8%), Romania (23.2%), Slovenia (20.7%) and Estonia (20.3%).
Pedestrians accounted for more than half of the victims in Malta (53.6% – 2022 data) and more than 30% in Latvia (30.9% – 2020 data), Romania (30.6%) and Estonia (30.5%). At the opposite end, only 11.9% of the victims in Sweden (2022 data) and 12.0% in the Netherlands were pedestrians.
Six Austrian regions recorded more than 4 000 accidents per million inhabitants
Map 1 presents the number of accidents by NUTS 2 regions and includes only the accidents with at least one casualty (person injured or killed). Among the regions (at NUTS 2 level) with the highest number of accidents per million inhabitants in 2023 were Ciudad autónoma de Melilla (ES64) in Spain, Vorarlberg (AT34) and Tirol (AT33) in Spain and Austria. These regions had road accident rates of 5 112, 5 039, and 5 023, respectively. It is worth noting that these regions have relatively higher accident rates compared to other regions.
Other regions with notable accident rates include Liguria (ITC3), Salzburg (AT32), Algarve (PT315), Kärnten (AT21), Oberösterreich (AT31), Steiermark (AT22) and Toscana (ITI1), in Portugal, Italy and Austria, with rates of all above 4 000 accidents per million inhabitants.
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(number per million inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadnu)
On the other hand, regions with low accident rates include Auvergne (FRK1) in France with 171 accidents per million inhabitants, Dytiki makedonia (EL53) with 201 and Kriti (EL43), with 266, both in Greece. These regions appear to have relatively safer road conditions compared with others. In total, 74 regions (out of 231) recorded less than 1 000 accidents per million inhabitants.
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Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadnu)
Among the 20 NUTS 1 regions with the largest numbers of accidents in 2023, 7 were in Germany, 4 in Italy, 2 in Spain and 1 in Belgium, Czechia, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Portugal. Nordrhein-Westfalen (DEA) was the only region where more than 60 000 accidents were recorded in 2023 (66 771).
Five regions among this list registered less than 20 000 accidents, with Rheinland-pfalz (DEB) in place 20 registering 16 947 accidents in 2023. All of the regions on this list registered an increase in the number of road accidents compared to 2021, from 4.5% in Schweiz/suisse/svizzera (CH0) in Switzerland, to 46.6% in West-nederland (NL3) in the Netherlands, except Île de france (FR1) in France, which decreased by 5.0%.
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The data presented in this article come from the Community database on road accidents resulting in death or injury (CARE) database. EU countries have long collected road accident data via their own national systems. EU-wide road accident data have been available via CARE since 1991.
The purpose of CARE is to provide a tool that makes it possible to identify and quantify road safety problems throughout Europe, evaluate the efficiency of road safety measures, determine the relevance of EU action and facilitate the exchange of experience in this field. Parts of the national data sets have been incorporated into the CARE database with their original national structure and definitions. However, as existing national accident data collection systems are not always compatible or comparable between countries, the European Commission provides and applies transformation rules for the national data sets, allowing CARE to provide compatible data. Eurostat’s reference database uses CARE data in a number of tables linked to road safety. Various tables are available. It is possible that the two sources differ, as there are regular data updates and updating is not synchronised.
Data in this article are limited to the number of persons fatally injured, resulting in death within 30 days of the road accident. Confirmed suicides and natural deaths are not included. Since 2010, all reporting countries apply this rule.
Please note that data referring to the French Départements d’Outre-Mer (overseas territories) and the Portuguese autonomous regions of Açores and Madeira are not available. The ‘fatalities per million inhabitants’ ratio takes this into account.
Context
In response to the growing concern among European citizens over road safety, the European Union made this issue a priority of its common transport policy set out in the 2001 White Paper on transport: European transport policy for 2010: time to decide and its mid-term review in 2006 (Keep Europe moving — Sustainable mobility for our continent). In the White Paper, the European Commission set the target of halving the number of road fatalities between 2000 and 2010. A variety of measures helped to cut the total road number of deaths by 44% between 2000 and 2010. The target of halving the 2000 number was reached in 2012.
Following on from that, the 2011 White Paper Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area — Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system set out 40 practical measures for the next decade. On road traffic, the Commission adopted an ambitious road safety programme that aimed to cut road deaths in Europe in half between 2010 and 2020. The programme set out a mix of initiatives, at European and national level, focusing on improving vehicle safety, the safety of infrastructure and road users’ behaviour.
Explore further
Other articles
Database
Publications
Methodology
- Road transport safety (ESMS metadata file — tran_sf_road_esms)
- Eurostat/UNECE/ITF Glossary for Transport Statistics, 5th edition
- CARE data glossary defining the variables and transformation rules