Romania retains one of EU’s highest road fatality rates, European Commission report says

Romania recorded 1,296 road deaths in 2025, giving it one of the highest fatality rates in the European Union, according to final figures published by the European Commission on Tuesday, October 27. The total was nevertheless 12% lower than in 2024 and 30% below the 2019 level.

With 68 deaths per million inhabitants, Romania remained among the EU’s worst-performing countries alongside Bulgaria, which recorded 71. Croatia also remained among the countries with the highest road mortality rates.

At the other end of the ranking, Sweden recorded 19 road deaths per million inhabitants, while Denmark had 24.

Despite its high fatality rate, Romania is one of only five EU countries currently on track to meet the target of halving road deaths by 2030 compared with 2019, according to the same report. The other four are Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Poland.

Across the EU, 19,350 people died in road crashes in 2025, down 3% from 2024 and 15% from 2019. This represents 580 fewer deaths than in the previous year and 3,400 fewer than six years earlier.

“While this significant achievement reaffirms the EU's position as one of the world's safest regions for road travel, the majority of Member States are not yet on track to meet the EU target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030,” reads the press release.

“Road safety is about more than rules and regulations. It is about protecting lives and preventing tragedies that affect families and communities across Europe,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism.

“Our goal is clear: to ensure that every citizen, wherever they travel, and whatever their mode of transport, can reach their destination.”

The Commission’s data showed that older people are more frequently killed in road crashes than other age groups. Passenger-car occupants and vulnerable road users - including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists - are among the most exposed, while most fatalities occur on rural roads outside urban areas.

For every road death, an estimated five people sustain serious injuries, the same report revealed. Based on this ratio, around 100,000 people are seriously injured in road crashes across the EU each year.

Provisional figures for the first half of 2026 indicated that more countries recorded declines exceeding 5% than increases in road fatalities. The Commission cautioned, however, that the data remain subject to seasonal and annual fluctuations.