European Commission releases preliminary figures on road fatalities for 2024

In 2018, the EU set a target to halve road deaths and, for the first time, serious injuries by 2030. This was set out in the 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 achieve the long-term goal of zero road deaths by 2050 (‘Vision Zero’).

The European Commission has recently released preliminary figures on road fatalities for 2024, reporting on progress toward these goals. Around 19,800 deaths were recorded – a 3% decrease from 2023, equivalent to 600 fewer lives lost. While this marks a step in the right direction, 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. 

The EU-wide reduction of 3% masks disparities between countries. Over the last five years, the number of road deaths has fallen only slightly in countries such as Greece, Spain, France and Italy, while it has risen in Ireland and Estonia (although smaller countries are more subject to annual fluctuations). In contrast, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia are currently on track to meet the 50% reduction target in road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 (it is important to note that this is based on preliminary and often partial data.) Notably, Romania has seen the number of fatalities fall significantly by 21% over the period since 2019 but continues to have the highest fatality rate in the EU.

The overall ranking of countries’ fatality rates has not changed significantly, with the safest roads still found in Sweden and Denmark (20 deaths and 24 deaths per million inhabitants, respectively). Bulgaria and Romania (74 and 77 deaths per million inhabitants) reported the highest fatality rates in 2024. The EU average was 44 road deaths per million inhabitants.

Within urban areas, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and users of powered two-wheelers and personal mobility devices) represent almost 70% of total fatalities. Urban road user fatalities occur overwhelmingly when a crash involves cars and lorries, underlining the need to improve protection of these vulnerable road users. See the latest collision matrix for urban roads here. In the rural context, fatalities often occur in single-vehicle accidents or collisions with other cars and trucks. See the collision matrix for rural roads here.

For more information

Review the road safety statistics 2024 in more detail here.

Author: Celia Miras Lopez

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the European Commission.