Brussels – In 2023, road accidents killed 20,380 people in the EU, a 1.3 percent decrease from 2022 (20,652 fatalities). By 2020, the number of fatalities had dropped dramatically to 18,830, thanks to mobility restrictions imposed to combat COVID-19, which affected passenger transport. Although the number of fatalities increased in 2021 and 2022, it did not return to pre-pandemic levels.
This information comes from the road safety data published today by Eurostat.
Lowest road fatality rate in Sweden
An average of 46 deaths per million inhabitants was recorded in the EU. The lowest road death rates in 2023 were recorded in Sweden (22 deaths per million population), Denmark (27) and Malta (30).
In contrast, the highest rates were in Bulgaria and Romania (both with 81 deaths per million population), followed by Latvia (75). In Italy, deaths were 52 per million inhabitants.
![[foto: P. Pérez/Wikimedia Commons]](https://www.eunews.it/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Venezia_2008_Biennale-120x86.jpg)
