The European Union recorded 19,463 road deaths in 2025, down 2.4% from 2024 in July figures from Italy’s National Institute of Statistics (Istat), as the bloc pursues its 2030 safety target.
Istat’s July 24 report compared the total with 19,945 deaths in 2024 and 22,823 in 2019, putting the toll 14.7% below the 2019 level. It recorded 43.4 deaths per million residents in 2025, a rate that adjusts the comparison for population size. The EU-27 count covers the bloc’s 27 member states for calendar 2025.
Istat marked its 2025 estimates for 11 countries as preliminary: Denmark, Finland, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Romania. The 19,463 figure is the EU-27 aggregate in the July report, while those national estimates remained provisional.
The European Commission said in an Oct. 27 Daily News entry that final figures confirmed a decline in road deaths during 2025. Istat said the annual decrease was similar to the 2.5% fall recorded the previous year.
The European Transport Safety Council’s 2026 Annual Road Safety Performance Index report rounded the 2025 toll to about 19,500, down 2% from 2024 and 15% from 2019. Istat cited that report among the sources for its EU comparison.
On March 24, the Commission had estimated around 19,400 road deaths in 2025, about 580 fewer than in 2024 and a 3% decline. It described that estimate as preliminary and said final results would follow in autumn. Istat’s July report later listed the more precise total of 19,463 and a 2.4% decrease.
The Commission also said in March that the number of vehicles and kilometers driven had increased while fatalities fell.
The EU aims to halve road deaths and serious injuries from 2019 levels by 2030, and has a longer-term goal of zero road deaths by 2050. The 2025 fatality toll was 14.7% below the 2019 level, short of the 50% reduction goal for deaths; the 2030 target also covers serious injuries.
