19,940 people lost their lives in road traffic accidents in the European Union in 2024. The lowest rate of deaths in 2024 was in Sweden - 20 per million inhabitants and Denmark - 20 and 24 per million inhabitants, respectively. The highest rate was in Romania and Bulgaria - 78 and 74 victims per million inhabitants. This is shown by the statistical data on road safety in the EU for last year, cited by nova.bg.
Compared to 2023, the data show a decrease of 2% and there is steady but slow progress towards achieving the European goal of halving deaths and serious injuries in road accidents by 2030.
The statistics appear a day after another serious accident that occurred on the roads of Bulgaria, in which three young boys died. The driver had only obtained a driving license the day before.
The EU informs that preliminary data for the first six months of 2025 show mixed trends in individual member states. Countries such as Greece, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia are giving positive signals with decreasing deaths.
"Behind every statistic are families and communities that have experienced tragedy. "The fact that nearly 20,000 people lost their lives in road accidents last year is unacceptable. The European Commission will continue to support all Member States in their efforts to make roads safer. But this is a joint effort: governments, industry and every road user have a role to play in ensuring the safety of every journey," said Apostolos Tsitsikostas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.