Road safety results in France (mainland and overseas) :
In 2023, 3,398 people were killed on the roads in mainland France and its overseas territories (final ONISR results).
This figure is 4.3% lower than in 2022 and 2.9% lower than in 2019, the benchmark year for the 2020-2030 decade.
The travel restriction measures (confinement, curfew) taken in 2020 and the first half of 2021 to manage the COVID 19 pandemic led to a sharp reduction in accidents in 2020 and 2021. Consequently, the reference year used to monitor accident rates over the 2020-2030 decade is 2019.
Road safety results - France mainland only
In mainland France, 3,167 people were killed in 2023, 100 fewer than in 2022 (-3.1%).
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
D’après la méthode d’estimation ONISR-Université Gustave Eiffel (Registre du Rhône) appliquée aux accidents corporels enregistrés par les forces de l’ordre en 2023, 235 000 personnes ont été blessées en 2023 sur les routes de France métropolitaine, dont 16 000 gravement. L’évolution du nombre de blessés toutes gravités est estimée en baisse par rapport à 2022 (- 0,8 %) ; l’évolution est à la stabilité pour les blessés graves (- 0,1 %).
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
Casualties 2023 by road network in mainland France
Roads outside built-up areas accounted for 59% of deaths and 48% of serious injuries in 2023.
1,877 people were killed on roads outside built-up areas (57 fewer than in 2022) and 7,600 were seriously injured (stable compared with 2022).
In built-up areas, 1,021 people were killed (18 fewer than in 2022) and 7,200 were seriously injured (stable compared with 2022).
On motorways, 269 people were killed (25 fewer than in 2022, but 6 more than in 2019), and 1,100 were seriously injured (stable compared with 2022).
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
Casualties 2023 according to age and gender in mainland France
Serious casualties according to gender
Compared with 2022, the number of male fatalities will fall by 3.5% (-88 fatalities) and the number of female fatalities will fall by 1.7% (-12 estimated fatalities). As a result, men continue to account for the majority of road deaths (77.6% compared with 77.9% in 2022, 77.3% in 2019 and 76.7% in 2018).
In particular, certain modes of transport, the use of which is growing strongly, have particularly affected men: 27 more men killed on bicycles in 2023 than in 2019, compared with 7 more women killed; 28 more men killed on e-scooter, compared with 6 more women killed.
75% of those seriously injured were male, a ratio equivalent to that in 2022 but higher than in 2019.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
Whatever the mode of travel, the proportion of male fatalities is much higher than the proportion of female fatalities, but it varies greatly depending on the mode of travel. Men represent 64% of those killed as pedestrians, 84% of those killed on e-scooters, 86% of those killed on bicycles, 92% of those killed on powered two-wheelers, 71% of those killed in passenger cars, and 94% of those killed in commercial vehicles or HGVs.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
Fatalities per age group
In 2023, 116 teenagers aged 14-17 died, a figure that is up and at a high level compared with previous years (+24 fatalities compared with 2019). Similarly (on the rise and at a high level), 370 senior citizens aged 65-74 died (+53 fatalities compared with 2019). The number of fatalities among 65-74 year-olds per million inhabitants stands at 50 fatalities per million inhabitants, above the average of 48 fatalities per million inhabitants.
On the other hand, 497 young adults aged 18-24 were killed, a much lower figure than in 2022 and 2019, and returning to the level observed in 2018; however, the number of 18-24 year-old fatalities per million young people of this age remains very high, at 91 fatalities per million inhabitants.
465 deaths are estimated in the 25-34 age group, a figure that is stable compared with 2022 but significantly down on 2019. 517 people aged 75 or over died, down on 2022 and 2019; this age group remains at high risk, with 77 fatalities per million inhabitants.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
To understand the true trend in risk for each age group, it is useful to look at the number of fatalities per million inhabitants in each age group. Thus, given the increase in the senior population, the variations that often appear to be rising are put into perspective by falling or remaining stable. Young people and adolescents under the age of 18 now have the lowest mortality rates. The greatest progress in terms of deaths has been made in the 14-17 age group (down 48% since 2010), but the recent trend is upwards.
In 2023, 48 people died per million inhabitants in mainland France. The highest rates, indicating the age groups most at risk of road deaths, are :
- 91 deaths per million population for young people aged 18-24 ;
- 77 deaths per million for senior citizens aged 75 or over;
- 61 deaths per million for 25-34 year-olds;
- 50 deaths per million for the 65-74 age group.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
Casualties 2023 according to the mobility mode in mainland France
Since the pandemic, the proportion of vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooterists, motorised two-wheelers) among those killed or seriously injured has increased.
Car occupants now account for less than half of those killed (48%).
The proportion of motorised two-wheeler users remains stable: they account for 22% of those killed, 34% of those seriously injured and 38% of those injured who will suffer after-effects 1 year after the accident, for less than 2% of motorised traffic.
The proportion of cyclists and e-scooterists is increasing: they account for 8% of fatalities, 20% of those seriously injured and 30% of those injured with permanent injuries 1 year after the accident.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
In 2023, 1,512 occupants of passenger vehicles were killed, 706 users of powered two-wheelers, 439 pedestrians, 221 cyclists and 44 e-scooterists.
The number of people killed in 2023 was lower than in 2022 (-3.1%) and 2019 (-2.4%).
The fall is largely due to a reduction in fatalities among occupants of passenger vehicles (-53 deaths compared with 2022 and -110 deaths compared with 2019), pedestrians (-49 deaths compared with 2022 and -44 deaths compared with 2019) and users of powered two-wheelers (-12 deaths compared with 2022 and -43 deaths compared with 2019).
The number of commercial vehicle fatalities, on the other hand, has risen sharply (+21 fatalities compared with 2022 and +27 fatalities compared with 2019).
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police, mainland France
Road safety results overseas
In this chapter, the results concerning injury accidents, fatalities and injured people correspond to the definitive data as recorded by the police in the BAAC file. The ONISR-Université Gustave Eiffel (Rhône register) methodology for estimating injuries is not currently applied to the French overseas territories.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in French overseas
231 people were killed on the roads in the French overseas territories in 2023, 135 in the overseas departments and 96 in the overseas collectivities or New Caledonia. This represents a fall of 18% (or 52 fewer fatalities) compared with 2022 and 9% (or 23 fewer fatalities) compared with 2019 (the reference year).
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in French overseas
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in French overseas
Fatalities on powered two-wheelers fell in 2023 compared with 2022, returning to the 2019 level with 72 road users killed, i.e. just under a third of all road deaths in the French overseas territories. Failure to wear a helmet accounts for a third of powered two-wheeler fatalities.
Car occupants account for more than a third of road deaths in the French overseas territories, with 84 deaths. Seatbelts are a major issue in the overseas territories, where in several territories half of all people killed in passenger cars, commercial vehicles or HGVs were not wearing a seatbelt.
Pedestrian fatalities, with 39 pedestrians killed, fell in 2023 compared with 2022 and 2019, returning to 2010 levels.
Cycling fatalities, with 15 cyclists killed, peaked in 2023.
Road deaths among young people aged 18-34 fell: 34 fatalities in 2023 compared with 58 fatalities in 2022 and 49 fatalities in 2019.
Mortality among 25-44 year-olds is down by 23% in 2023 compared with 2022 and stable compared with 2019: 88 fatalities in 2023 compared with 115 fatalities in 2022 and 86 fatalities in 2019.
Fatalities among 45-64 year-olds are stable compared with 2022 and down compared with 2019: 57 fatalities in 2023 (11 more fatalities than in 2019).
Fatalities among the over-65s are higher than in 2022 and 2019: 38 fatalities in 2023 (6 more than in 2022 and 10 more than in 2019). Senior citizens are still much less represented than in mainland France.
The road risk is very variable according to the territory.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in French overseas,
Population : INSEE for France mainland and overseas counties, ISPEF for French Polynesia and ISEE for New Caledonia
One of the reasons for this is the very different modes of travel in different areas. The breakdown of fatalities by mode of travel by territory shows the following in particular:
- 55% of deaths by car in New Caledonia, 44% in French Guiana and 40% in Guadeloupe, compared with 15% in Polynesia, 21% in Martinique and 30% in La Réunion.
- 38% of deaths on foot in Martinique, compared with 3% in Polynesia, 15% in French Guiana and Guadeloupe, 16% in New Caledonia and 20% on Reunion Island
- 2WDs predominate in Polynesia, both mopeds and motorbikes, but account for a very small proportion in French Polynesia. In the French overseas departments, motorbikes are more common in Martinique and mopeds more often in French Guiana, while Guadeloupe and La Réunion report 23% of fatalities involving motorbikes and 8% and 7% respectively involving mopeds.
Fatalities according to the mobility mode
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in French overseas
In overseas counties
Road deaths are falling in the French overseas departments, from 162 deaths in 2019 to 135 deaths in 2023.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in overseas counties
In overseas communities and New Caledonia
The death toll in the French overseas communities and New Caledonia will be 96 in 2023. This is slightly higher than in 2019.
Source: ONISR definitive data up to 2023
Data relating to injury accidents recorded by the police in French overseas communities and New Caledonia
