Cyprus recorded 35 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2023, placing it well below the European Union average of 46 deaths per million, according to new data released by Eurostat.

The figures, published ahead of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on November 17, highlight a mixed picture across Europe, with some regions showing remarkably low casualty rates while others continue to face alarmingly high numbers of deaths on the roads.

Across the EU, 123 out of 234 regions, representing 52.6 per cent, recorded fatality rates above the EU average, while 104 regions reported rates below it and seven regions were exactly at the EU average.

The highest regional rates were concentrated mainly in the south-eastern part of the EU, where seven regions registered more than 100 fatalities per million inhabitants.

In Bulgaria, the Severozapaden region reported the highest road fatality rate in the EU, with 166 deaths per million inhabitants, followed by Severen Tsentralen with 107 fatalities per million.

In Greece, the island regions of Ionia Nisia and Notio Aigaio recorded 120 and 119 fatalities per million inhabitants, respectively.

France’s outermost region of Guyane also recorded a high fatality rate of 117 per million inhabitants, while in Romania, Sud-Vest Oltenia and Sud-Est each reported 107 and 102 fatalities per million inhabitants.

At the opposite end of the scale, 26 EU regions reported fewer than 25 road deaths per million inhabitants, with two regions recording no fatalities at all. These were Aland in Finland and Ciudad de Melilla in Spain.

The lowest rates overall were found in urban and capital areas, including Brussels in Belgium with 5 fatalities per million inhabitants, Vienna in Austria with 6, and Berlin in Germany with 9.

According to Eurostat, urban regions tend to have lower fatality rates due to reduced driving speeds, better infrastructure, and more advanced road safety measures compared to rural or peripheral regions.