In 2023, 20,400 people lost their lives in road crashes across the EU, marking a 1% decrease from the previous year, with 46 road deaths per million inhabitants. 

While the long-term trend shows a 10% reduction compared to 2019, the current pace of decline falls short of the required 4.5% annual reduction needed to achieve the EU’s goal of halving road deaths by 2030.

Progress continues to be very uneven between Member States: in 2023, Czechia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Finland registered their lowest figures since modern records began.

Poland reported a 35% drop in the number of fatalities between 2019 and 2023 while Ireland reported an increase of 31%.

However, the overall road fatality rate per capita in Poland remains above the EU average while Ireland’s is below; and the overall ranking of countries’ fatality rates has not changed significantly, with the safest roads in Sweden (22 deaths per million inhabitants) and Denmark (26/million), while Bulgaria (82/million) and Romania (81/million) reported the highest fatality rates in 2023.

The figures published today reveal the final numbers of road fatalities for 2023, following the publication of preliminary data in March 2024.