Road fatalities total approximately 19,800 in 2024; EU says "That's too many"

Brussels – In 2024, there were 19,800 deaths due to road accidents. Compared with 2023, this is a “slight decrease” of 3 percent, or 600 fewer lives lost, according to preliminary data released by the European Commission today (March 18). The figures do not raise eyebrows since, the EU executive notes, “the overall pace of improvement remains too slow, and most Member States are not on track to meet the EU’s goal of halving road deaths by 2030,” a goal the EU set itself almost 10 years ago now, in 2018.

“Reducing fatalities by 3 percent is not enough,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism. “Too many lives are still lost on our roads every year. We must accelerate efforts to improve road safety,” he explains, “particularly for vulnerable road users and in high-risk areas like rural roads.”

Rural roads continue to pose the most significant risk of fatal accidents, with 52 percent of deaths occurring on these roads. The majority of fatalities on roads (77 percent) involve men, while older adults (over 65) and young people (18-24 year-olds) are particularly vulnerable. Regarding the type of road users, car occupants account for the largest share of fatalities, followed by motorcyclists (20 percent), pedestrians (18 percent), and cyclists (10 percent).

Sweden and Denmark remain the safest countries for road safety, with low fatality rates of 20 and 24 deaths per million, respectively. Romania (77 per million population) and Bulgaria (74) continue to have the highest fatality rates. Italy records a rate of 51 fatalities per million inhabitants, still higher than EU averages (44).

English version by the Translation Service of Withub