Filenews 22 November 2022
Sparsely populated areas of the European Union recorded the highest incidence of road deaths in 2020. In contrast, Cyprus was one of the countries where the incidence of deaths per one million inhabitants was above the EU average, according to data released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
In 2020, a total of 19,102 road deaths were recorded in 2020 in the European Union, corresponding to 43 deaths per million EU inhabitants, while at least 935,555 injuries were recorded on EU roads (with the exception of Ireland).
According to the same data, in 112 of the 239 NUTS 2 regions [Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics] the incidence of road deaths was lower than the EU average, while in 123 (51.5% of all regions) it was higher. In four regions the number of deaths per million inhabitants was equal to the European average.
In Cyprus, which for statistical purposes is considered by Eurostat to be a single NUTS 2 region, the incidence of road deaths in 2020 stood at 54 per million inhabitants.
As noted, the highest incidences of deaths in 2020 in the EU were recorded in rural and sparsely populated areas, with the first in the ranking being regions of Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, overseas areas of France, Poland and Romania.
Urban areas, on the other hand, recorded a much lower incidence of deaths. According to Eurostat, this finding may be related to lower speeds in these areas, due to lower speed limits in built-up areas and congestion of national networks in large urban centres or conurbations.
It should be noted that the statistics on accident incidents include incidents involving vehicles passing through an area, as well as deaths and injuries of non-residents who are in an area for holidays, work or other reasons. As a result, areas that contain transit lanes or have large numbers of visitors may have a higher incidence of injuries and deaths.
Five of the NUTS 2 regions recorded at least 100 deaths per million inhabitants in 2020. The highest number was recorded in Alentejo, Portugal (135 per million), followed by the French overseas regions of Guadeloupe (124) and Guyana (115), the region around the capital region of Poland (123) and the Luxembourg region in Belgium (100).
In 24 regions in the EU, the incidence of accidental deaths was less than 23 per million inhabitants in 2020. No deaths were recorded in two regions: in the Valle d'Aosta in Italy and in the Åland Islands in Finland.
Most of the 24 regions with low death tolls were urban areas, including 10 national capitals. In fact, the three regions with the lowest incidence of deaths were Stockholm in Sweden (5 per million), Vienna in Austria (6 per million) and Hamburg in Germany (8 per million).
