Cyprus recorded a 13.5% drop in road deaths between 2019 and 2025, ranking 12th in the EU-27, but fatalities rose by 9.8% in 2025, according to a report released on Tuesday by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).
The findings, part of ETSC’s 20th annual Road Safety Performance Index report, highlight uneven progress as the European Union struggles to meet its target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
Cyprus slipped to 16th place among EU member states for road deaths per capita in 2025, down from 14th a year earlier. The country recorded 46 road deaths per million inhabitants, above the EU average of 43.
Slow progress in cutting road deaths
Across the EU-27, around 19,500 people were killed on the roads in 2025 and more than 100,000 were seriously injured, the report said. Fatalities fell by just 2.3% year on year, underlining what ETSC described as slow progress.
Compared with 2019, the baseline for the EU’s 2030 target, road deaths across the bloc declined by 14.6%, far short of the 31% reduction needed to stay on track. Cyprus’ 13.5% decline over the same period broadly mirrors the EU shortfall.
Only 24 of 31 countries covered by the report recorded a drop in road deaths between 2019 and 2025, while seven saw increases.
Over the past decade, road fatalities in the EU-27 fell by 20.2%, while Cyprus achieved a slightly stronger 21.1% reduction, ranking 16th. ETSC estimates that more than 31,000 lives were saved across the EU during that period. However, a further 42,900 lives could have been saved if reductions had matched the bloc’s 2030 trajectory, with an estimated economic benefit of €77 billion.
Serious injuries
On serious injuries, Cyprus outperformed most EU countries. Between 2015 and 2025, serious road injuries in EU member states that provided data fell by 12.9%. Cyprus recorded a 29.2% reduction, the seventh highest among the 24 reporting countries.
The report marks 20 years of the ETSC’s Road Safety PIN programme, which compares performance across 31 European countries, including non-EU states such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland and Serbia.
Denmark received the 2026 Road Safety PIN Award for cutting road deaths by 31.7% between 2019 and 2025, the second-best performance in the EU. It also ranked among the best performers for deaths per capita, with a rate of 23 per million people in 2025.
Two-speed Europe
“The EU is moving at two speeds when it comes to road safety,” the ETSC said. “Some countries are moving toward achieving the goal of a 50% reduction, while most appear to be falling short. None of this is inevitable; it reflects the choices made by governments.”
The report urges governments to adopt the “Safe System” approach, which treats road safety as a shared responsibility between authorities and road users and focuses on safer infrastructure, vehicles and behaviour.
ETSC also called for stronger law enforcement, increased public funding for targeted safety measures, and faster development of harmonised data on key performance indicators.
Speed limit changes recommended
Among its recommendations, it urged authorities to set safer speed limits, including 30 km/h in urban areas, 70 km/h on rural roads without central barriers and a maximum of 120 km/h on highways, alongside improved enforcement measures.
The organisation also called on the European Commission to ensure full implementation of the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021–2030 and to consider creating a dedicated European agency to support safer and more sustainable transport.
Source: CNA
