In 2024, road accidents claimed the lives of 19,934 people in the EU, a decrease of 2.2% from 2023 and the second consecutive year of decline in the number of deaths, Eurostat announced on Monday, April 27. Romania had the highest rates of traffic deaths per million inhabitants, a title it has maintained over the last years.
On average, the EU had 44 road deaths per one million inhabitants in 2024. The lowest road death rates were recorded in Sweden (20 deaths per one million inhabitants), followed by Malta (21) and Denmark (24). In contrast, the highest rates were recorded in Romania (78), Bulgaria (74), and Greece (64).
“Ten EU countries recorded 50 deaths or more per one million inhabitants, namely Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Estonia, listed in descending order from the highest to the lowest,” Eurostat reported.
The ranking is different in absolute numbers. Here, three EU countries recorded over 2,000 deaths: Germany, France, and Italy, compared to four countries in 2014 (Germany, France, Italy, and Poland). Five countries recorded fewer than 100 deaths in 2024: Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, and Slovenia. Among EFTA countries, Switzerland recorded the highest number of deaths in all these 3 reference years.
All EU countries recorded a decrease in the number of people killed in road accidents between 2014 and 2024, except for Spain, Malta, and the Netherlands.
Regarding road accidents, the ten EU regions with the highest number of accidents in 2024 were in Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Men accounted for approximately three-quarters of road accident deaths between 2014 and 2024. Over this period, there was a decrease of 12.6% in the number of deaths among men and a decrease of 18.4% in the number of deaths among women.
Among EU and EFTA countries, Poland, Lithuania, and Slovenia recorded the largest decreases in the number of people killed in road accidents between 2019 and 2024, with decreases of 34.8% for Poland and 33.3% for both Lithuania and Slovenia.
Only 5 countries recorded an increase during this period: Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland, with increases ranging between 1.7% and 116.7%.
When it comes to age groups, people aged between 25 and 49 accounted for the largest share of deaths, namely 31.1% of reported deaths in 2024. This age group is followed by people aged 65 or over, with 30.7% of deaths. Together, these 2 groups accounted for just over 60% of total road accident deaths in the EU.
The 50–64 age group accounted for 21.4% of total deaths, while people aged 18 to 24 accounted for 12.1%.
Car drivers and passengers accounted for the largest category of road deaths in the EU in 2024, with 43.6% of total road deaths. Motorcyclists and their passengers (18.5%) were the next largest category, followed by pedestrians (17.8%). Cyclists and motorized cyclists together accounted for 9.9% of road deaths in the EU in 2024.
Overall, 3,558 pedestrians were killed in 2024. However, the share of pedestrian deaths varies considerably between EU countries, from 9.7% in the Netherlands to 43.8% in Malta. The share was also around 30% in Romania (32.6%), Latvia (30.4%), and Lithuania (28.2%).
Rural roads accounted for 53.3% of deaths in 2024, while urban roads accounted for 38.2%
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