Statistics published by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and released by the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), indicate that Portugal recorded 60 road deaths per million inhabitants last year.

According to the report, the highest mortality in 2023 was in Bulgaria and Romania, with 82 and 81 road deaths per million inhabitants respectively, while the countries with the lowest number of deaths are Norway and Sweden.

ANSR states that Portugal recorded a 1.5% increase in the number of fatalities in road accidents in 2023 compared to the previous year, although substantially lower than that seen in 2022 compared to 2021 (11.1%).

“Considering the year 2019 as a reference, in 2023 there was a 4.2% reduction in the number of fatalities in Portugal compared to that year”, indicates the Portuguese entity, stressing that the report shows that Portugal presented a reduction in mortality road transport, although below the European average and still far from reaching European Union targets.

Last year, Portugal recorded almost 35,000 road accidents that caused 468 deaths and 2,437 serious injuries.

New ETSC statistics indicate that in 2023 there were 20,418 fatalities on EU roads, a decrease of just 1% compared to 2022, “a figure that falls far short of the 6.1% annual reduction needed to achieve the EU target to reduce the number of fatalities by 50% by 2030”, according to ANSR.