Definition: the indicator number of traffic fatalities within 30 days corresponds to the number of fatalities as a result of an accident, immediately or in the month following it. To make international comparisons possible, the number of fatalities is expressed in 100,000 inhabitants. Data come from police reports complemented by information from public prosecutor’s offices and compiled by Statistics Belgium, which makes them available, in particular to Eurostat. The data used here come from Eurostat, which publishes detailed and comparable results between EU Member States.

Goal: between 2020 and 2030, the number of traffic fatalities must be halved to reach 2.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2030.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 3.6: “By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents”. Similarly, in Belgium, the Etats Généraux de la Sécurité Routière has set a target of halving the number of deaths between 2010 and 2020 (VIAS, 2019), which gives a target of 3.9 deaths within 30 days per 100,000 inhabitants in 2020.

In the longer term, the EU aims to reduce the number of road deaths to close to zero by 2050 (European Commission, 2018). This is also the case for Belgium. The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development includes objective 24: “Mobility and transport will be provided in maximum safety conditions aiming at zero fatalities”.

For 2030, the European Union (Council of the European Union, 2017) calls for a target to halve the number of serious injuries on the roads between 2020 and 2030. This objective has been extended to the number of road deaths. In 2020, there were 4.3 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, thus a target of 2.2 in 2030.

International comparison: the number of traffic fatalities decreased by 66% between 2000 and 2021 within the EU27. With 4.5 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, Belgium is on the same level as the European average (4.5 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants). When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group with average performance and is on a par with the European average in 2021. In that year, Malta ranked first with 1.7 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants and Romania last with 9.3.

UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to 3.6.1 - Death rate due to road traffic injuries.

Sources

• General

  • SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.

  • Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.

  • UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

  • UN Sustainable Development Goal indicators website: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

• Specific

  • European Commission (2018), Europe on the move, Sustainable Mobility for Europe: safe, connected, and clean, COM(2018) 293 final.

  • European Council (2017), Council conclusions on "Road safety endorsing the Valletta Declaration" (Valletta, 28-29/03/2017).

  • VIAS (2019), Lequeux Q. & Leblud J., Rapport statistique 2018- Accidents de la route2017, Bruxelles, Belgique: Institut Vias - Centre Connaissance de Sécurité Routière, www.vias.be (consulted on 12/11/2020).

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