Antonella Bernetti Gianluca Iarocci
The indicator determines mortality and severity rates associated with different transport modes, to inform policies for enhancing transport safety. In Italy during 2023, 166,525 road accidents involving personal injuries were recorded, resulting in 3,039 fatalities and 224,634 injuries. Compared to 2022, the number of road accidents increased by 0.4%, while fatalities and injuries showed a decrease of -3.8% and an increase of 0.5%, respectively.
The indicator represents the annual number of accidents, fatalities, and injuries across different transport modes.
To determine mortality and severity rates associated with different modes of transport, in order to develop policies aimed at improving transport safety
CIPE Resolution No. 100/2002, Law No. 160/2007, Legislative Decree No. 162/2007, EU Regulation No. 996/2010
European Transport Safety Council, Annual Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Report, various years, https://etsc.eu/17th-annual-road-safety-performance-index-pin-report/
ISTAT – ACI, Traffic Accident Data and Statistics, various years, https://www.aci.it/laci/studi-e-ricerche/dati-e-statistiche/incidentalita/la-statistica-istat-aci/2022.html
MIT (Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti), National Infrastructure and Transport Report – various years (CNIT) https://www.mit.gov.it/node/18826
UNEM (Unione Energie per la mobilità), Data and Statistics, various years, https://www.unem.it
ACI (Automobile Club d'Italia) AISCAT (Associazione Italiana Società Concessionarie Autostrade e Trafori) ISTAT MT (Ministero dei trasporti)
ACI, http://www.aci.it/laci/studi-e-ricerche/dati-e-statistiche/open-data.html
ETSC, https://etsc.eu/17th-annual-road-safety-performance-index-pin-report
ISTAT – ACI https://www.aci.it/laci/studi-e-ricerche/dati-e-statistiche/incidentalita/la-statistica-istat-aci/2023.html
MIT, https://www.mit.gov.it/node/18826
UNEM, https://www.unem.it
National
1995 - 2023
Mortality Rate = (Number of fatalities / Number of accidents) × 100
Severity Index = (Number of fatalities / [Number of fatalities + Number of injuries]) × 100
In Italy, in 2023, there were 166,525 road accidents involving injuries, resulting in 3,039 fatalities and 224,634 injured persons. Compared to 2022, the number of road accidents increased by 0.4%, while fatalities decreased by 3.8% and injuries increased by 0.5% (Table 1). In 2023, both the mortality index (average number of deaths per 100 accidents) and the severity index (average number of deaths per 100 persons involved) showed a decrease compared to the previous year.
In 2022, there were 115 railway accidents, resulting in 69 deaths and 25 injuries (Table 2). At the European level (EU27), in 2023, a decrease in the number of road traffic fatalities was recorded, although not uniformly across all countries: 20,420 people died on European roads, representing a 1.3% decrease compared to the previous year (Table 6).
Overall, between 2001 and 2023, road accidents involving personal injuries decreased by 36.7%, dropping from 263,100 to 166,525. Similarly, fatalities declined by 57.2% (from 7,096 to 3,039), and injuries decreased by 39.8% (from 373,286 to 224,631) (Table 1).
During the period 2010–2022, a total of 1,438 serious railway accidents occurred, resulting in 849 fatalities and 535 injuries (Table 2).
In maritime transport, a decrease of approximately 33.0% in the number of accidents was recorded, from 97 in 2010 to 65 in 2022. Over the same period, a total of 1,078 maritime incidents occurred, causing 82 fatalities (Table 4).
Regarding air transport, between 2015 and 2023, a decrease in the number of accidents was observed, from 34 to 27 (Table 3).
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Table 1: Road accidents occurred in Italy by outcome and accident rates Data source
ISPRA processing based on ACI and ISTAT data |
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Table 2: Serious railway accidents occurred in Italy, by outcome Data source
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT and Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport data. Note
Serious railway accidents are defined as those resulting in at least one fatality or serious injury, and/or significant damage to rolling stock, tracks, other infrastructure, or the environment, and/or a prolonged traffic disruption. Accidents occurring in workshops, warehouses, or depots are excluded. Data for the years 2009–2013 have been corrected by the Source. Fatalities include persons killed instantly or within 30 days as a consequence of the accident. |
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Table 3: Aircraft accidents occurred in Italy Data source
ISPRA processing based on ANSV data |
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Table 4: Maritime accidents occurred in Italy, by outcome Data source
ISPRA processing based on Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) and Coast Guard data Note
The dataset comprises accidents involving commercial vessels and fishing boats with gross tonnage exceeding 100 GT (Gross Tonnes) in Italian territorial waters or adjacent areas. |
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Table 5: Casualties involving commercial vessels (Italian and foreign-flagged) by transport type in Italian territorial waters or adjacent areas (2022) Data source
ISPRA processing of Italian Coast Guard (Comando Generale del Corpo delle Capitanerie di Porto) and MIT data |
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Table 6: Road traffic fatalities in EU Member States (EU27) Data source
Source: ETSC 18th Road Safety Performance Index Report - Year 2024 Note
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Figure 1: Road traffic accidents in Italy with mortality and severity indices Data source
ISPRA elaboration based on ACI and ISTAT data |
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Figure 2: Road traffic fatalities in EU Member States (EU27) - Percentage changes 2022/2023 Data source
ETSC 16th Road Safety Performance Index Report - Year 2022 |
In 2023, in the EU-27, a total of 20,420 people died as a result of road traffic accidents. Poland (-68.4%) and Malta (-38.5%) recorded the largest percentage reductions in the number of road fatalities compared to the previous year (Table 6). For the EU-27 as a whole, the reduction in road mortality between 2010 and 2023 is approximately 31.2% (Table 6).
In railway accidents that occurred in Italy in 2022, 69 people lost their lives: among them, 4 passengers, 2 members of staff, and 63 others (Table 2). For railway transport, the severity index was 73.4%, meaning that out of every 100 people involved in railway accidents (injured or deceased), approximately 73 died.
Table 5, which presents the distribution of accidents involving commercial vessels in Italian territorial waters or nearby areas, shows that out of 65 incidents (42 involving Italian commercial vessels and 23 involving foreign commercial vessels), 8 concerned liquid cargo ships. These include ships transporting petroleum products, chemicals, gaseous substances, and non-flammable liquid cargo. Only maritime accidents involving commercial vessels with a gross tonnage over 100 tons were considered.