Portugal registered an 8% reduction in the number of road fatalities in 2023 compared to 2019, however compared to the numbers from 2022 there was a 3% increase, with 61 road fatalities per million inhabitants, according to data released today by the European Commission.
Across the European Union (EU), on the other hand, there were 46 road deaths per million inhabitants last year, representing a 1% decrease in road fatalities compared to 2022 and a 10% decrease compared to 2019, the reference year for the goal of reducing deaths by 50% by 2030.
Not all EU Member States show declining trends compared to 2019, with Ireland recording an increase of 31%, Latvia 27%, the Netherlands 7%, Slovakia 4%, and Sweden 2%.
On the other hand, the biggest decreases in the last four years were seen in Poland (-35%), Belgium and Hungary (-22% each), Denmark (-20%), and the Czech Republic (-19%).
Bulgaria with 82 deaths per million inhabitants, Romania and Lithuania with 76 each had the highest road mortality rates in 2023. Meanwhile, Sweden with 22, Malta with 26, and Denmark with 27 had the lowest rates among EU Member States.
