New WHO data covering 2011 to 2025 shows the global rate of road traffic deaths fell 21 percent, even as more than a billion motor vehicles joined the world's roads. Crashes still killed 1.16 million people in 2025.
Between 2011 and 2025 the world put more than a billion extra motor vehicles on its roads. The rate at which people were killed on those roads fell by 21 percent over the same period. More traffic normally means more danger, and the risk to each person travelling went the other way instead. The World Health Organization released the figures on 20 July 2026, as the United Nations General Assembly held its first high-level meeting on road safety and adopted a declaration to halve road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
How we know
The 21 percent is a rate, not a count. WHO measures road deaths per 100,000 people, which is the only way to compare a year carrying a billion more vehicles with one that was not, and it builds the figure from national death registration data where that data is complete enough and from modelled estimates agreed with each country's road safety experts where it is not. The count is a separate number, and it is still large. Crashes killed 1.16 million people in 2025, and road injuries remain the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5 to 29. The regional detail shows how unevenly the fall is spread: deaths dropped 36 percent across the WHO European Region and 15 percent in the Western Pacific, 2 percent in South-East Asia, did not move in the Americas, and rose 17 percent in the African Region. Ten countries halved their road deaths in the decade to 2021, and more than half of all countries recorded a fall.
Why it matters
Ask what works and WHO gives a consistent answer: strong laws and enforcement, safe infrastructure and safer vehicles, with particular attention to lowering speed and to driving impaired by drink or drugs. Underneath those measures sits the safe system approach, the principle that a road network should be designed on the assumption that people will make mistakes, and should hold the force of a crash within what a human body can survive. It matters most for the people outside the metal. More than half of the world's road deaths are people who were not in a car at all: walking, cycling or riding a motorcycle. Motorcycle numbers more than tripled between 2011 and 2025 as ride-hailing and delivery apps spread, and motorcyclists now account for close to a third of all road deaths, though a certified helmet cuts the risk of dying in a crash by more than six times. "When roads are designed as if only car drivers matter, these people are left dangerously exposed," said Etienne Krug, who directs WHO's department of health determinants, promotion and prevention. The declaration adopted in New York commits governments to the safe system approach, and to national road safety strategies carrying targets, timelines and budgets. It passed by 162 votes to one, with the United States objecting. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General, put the standard plainly: all road deaths are preventable, and none are acceptable.
The 21 percent fall is in the rate, not the count. Road crashes still killed 1.16 million people in 2025 and injured about 50 million more, and they remain the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5 to 29. The progress is also very unevenly shared: deaths fell 36 percent across the WHO European Region and 15 percent in the Western Pacific, but only 2 percent in South-East Asia, not at all in the Americas, and rose 17 percent in the African Region. WHO's own verdict on the data is that stronger action is needed, and the UN target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 against 2021 levels is a long way off. The declaration that accompanied the figures is voluntary and non-binding, and it passed over the objection of the United States.
Does a falling death rate mean fewer people are dying on the roads?
Not by itself. The 21 percent figure is a rate, deaths counted per 100,000 people, which is what allows a comparison across years in which both the population and the number of vehicles grew. WHO reports the count separately: 1.16 million people were killed in road crashes in 2025.
Who is being killed on the world's roads?
More than half of all road deaths are people who were not in a car: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Motorcyclists alone now account for close to a third of the total, after motorcycle numbers more than tripled between 2011 and 2025. WHO says a certified helmet reduces the risk of dying in a crash by more than six times.
What did the UN General Assembly agree?
At its first high-level meeting on road safety, held in New York in July 2026, the Assembly adopted a Progress Declaration by 162 votes to one. It commits governments to national road safety strategies with targets, timelines and budgets, lead agencies, better data, stronger legislation, and roads and vehicles that meet safety standards. The declaration is voluntary and non-binding.
Where has road safety improved most?
The WHO European Region recorded the largest regional fall at 36 percent, followed by the Western Pacific at 15 percent. Ten countries halved their road deaths in the decade to 2021, and more than half of all countries reported falling fatalities over that period. South-East Asia fell 2 percent, the Americas did not move, and the African Region rose 17 percent.
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