Road deaths plummeted globally, data showed
Despite the addition of more than one billion motor vehicles to the world’s roads since 2011, traffic deaths have plummeted by 21% over the same period, new data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows.
“In the last 15 years, we’ve made real progress in reducing road deaths, despite surging vehicle numbers and major shifts in how people move,” noted Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general.
However, while praising nations for making roads safer, he warned that traffic accidents still claimed 1.16 million lives in 2025 and are the leading cause of death among people aged 5–29 years.
The WHO data came as nations adopted a new United Nations declaration on road safety, which committs them to halving road deaths by 2030. Finland is among those leading the way after its capital, Helsinki, went a year without a single road death.
“We know what works – strong laws and enforcement, safe infrastructure and vehicles, with particular attention to lowering speed and addressing impaired driving,” said Dr Etienne Krug, a director at the WHO. “This declaration means we must all go further and faster.”
Image: Jack Finnigan
