WESTERN BALKANS – Road crashes claimed 1,287 lives in the Western Balkans in 2025 – 62 more than in the previous year. A new Transport Community report highlights the need for stronger, sustained action to prevent deaths and serious injuries and make everyday journeys safer.
Road Safety Statistics in the Western Balkans (2025) brings together the latest figures on road deaths and, for the first time, a regional overview of reported serious injuries covering 2019–2025.
The findings show that progress remains too slow. Road deaths increased by 5.1% compared with 2024, reversing the previous year’s improvement. With approximately 78 deaths per million inhabitants, compared with 43 in the European Union, the region’s road death rate remains around 1.8 times the EU average.
Results varied across the region. Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia recorded fewer deaths than in 2024, while Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo* recorded increases. These differences underline the importance of sustained action across all six regional partners.
Since 2019, road deaths in the Western Balkans have fallen by just 2.1%. Much faster progress is needed to reach the regional targets of reducing deaths by 25% by 2027 and by half by 2030.
The report also draws attention to the thousands of people who survive road crashes with serious injuries. In 2025, 8,162 people were reported seriously injured across the Western Balkans – almost unchanged from 2024 and 10.8% more than in 2019.
These figures help build a fuller picture of the human cost of road crashes. However, definitions of serious injury differ across the region and are not yet aligned with the EU’s common definition. Improving how injuries are recorded will help authorities better understand the problem and direct action where it is most needed.
The report also includes road fatality trends for the Transport Community’s observing participants, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.
The report calls for action that recognises that people make mistakes, but those mistakes should not cost lives. Safer roads, appropriate speed limits, safer vehicles, consistent enforcement and effective emergency care must work together.
Priorities include fixing dangerous road sections, strengthening vehicle safety checks and increasing the use of seat belts and child restraints. Governments also need to ensure that road safety measures have reliable funding, sufficient staff and clear responsibilities.
The Transport Community’s “A Moment for Life” campaign supports these efforts by encouraging seat belt use in every seat, on every journey. The report calls for awareness activities to be backed by regular police checks, consistent enforcement and continued public education.
Through the Next Generation Road Safety Action Plan 2025–2027 and the Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory, the Transport Community supports regional partners in turning shared commitments into practical measures that protect lives.
Read the full report: Road Safety Statistics in the Western Balkans (2025).
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*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
