Safest Countries to Drive In

These countries have pushed road deaths to a fraction of the global average — most below 3 per 100,000 people against a world average of about 15. They share a playbook: safe-system road engineering (medians, roundabouts, forgiving roadsides), strict enforcement of speed and alcohol limits, high seat-belt and helmet compliance, mandatory vehicle standards, and fast emergency response. None of it is secret; all of it takes sustained investment.

#	Country	Rate /100k	Est. deaths / year	Est. 2026 so far
1	Maldives	0.9	5	3
2	Singapore	1.8	106	82
3	Iceland	2	8	6
4	Norway	2.1	116	90
5	Sweden	2.2	233	181
6	Monaco	2.5	1	0
7	Japan	2.6	3,237	2,520
8	Switzerland	2.6	229	178
9	Liechtenstein	2.7	1	0
10	Ireland	2.9	154	119
11	United Kingdom	2.9	1,963	1,528
12	San Marino	3	1	0
13	Denmark	3.1	183	142
14	Brunei	3.6	16	12
15	Germany	3.7	3,127	2,434
16	Spain	3.7	1,758	1,368
17	Netherlands	3.8	676	526
18	Finland	3.9	218	169
19	Israel	3.9	378	294
20	Malta	4.1	22	17
21	Estonia	4.4	62	48
22	Australia	4.5	1,197	932
23	Austria	4.6	419	326
24	Micronesia	4.6	5	3
25	Luxembourg	4.7	31	24
26	Belgium	4.8	562	437
27	Slovenia	4.9	103	80
28	France	5	3,410	2,655
29	Cyprus	5.1	66	51
30	Italy	5.2	3,063	2,385
31	Canada	5.3	2,125	1,654
32	Qatar	5.3	143	111
33	Andorra	5.5	4	3
34	Czech Republic	5.6	605	471
35	Slovakia	5.7	308	239
36	Barbados	5.8	16	12
37	South Korea	5.9	3,050	2,375
38	North Macedonia	6.4	134	104
39	Lithuania	6.5	182	141
40	United Arab Emirates	6.6	627	488
41	Portugal	6.8	694	540
42	Hungary	6.9	662	515
43	Serbia	7.2	482	375
44	Marshall Islands	7.3	3	2
45	Latvia	7.4	141	109
46	Poland	7.4	2,723	2,120
47	Bahrain	7.5	113	87
48	Croatia	7.7	300	233
49	Tuvalu	7.7	1	0
50	Belarus	7.8	718	559
51	New Zealand	7.8	406	316
52	Antigua and Barbuda	7.9	7	5
53	Samoa	7.9	17	13
54	Greece	8.2	853	664
55	Cuba	8.5	952	741
56	Romania	8.6	1,643	1,279
57	Turkey	8.6	7,379	5,745
58	Azerbaijan	8.7	887	690
59	Bulgaria	8.9	570	443
60	Kiribati	9.4	13	10
61	Fiji	9.6	90	70
62	Moldova	9.7	243	189
63	Egypt	9.9	11,157	8,687
64	Dominica	10.2	7	5
65	Palestine	10.3	556	432
66	Chile	10.5	2,058	1,602
67	Uzbekistan	10.5	3,696	2,878
68	Montenegro	10.6	66	51
69	Kuwait	10.7	460	358
70	Oman	10.7	492	383
71	Saint Kitts and Nevis	10.8	5	3
72	Russia	10.9	15,740	12,256
73	Philippines	11.1	13,020	10,138
74	Indonesia	11.3	31,358	24,418
75	Seychelles	11.4	11	8
76	Trinidad and Tobago	11.6	174	135
77	Albania	11.7	328	255
78	Armenia	11.9	333	259
79	Kazakhstan	11.9	2,332	1,815
80	Grenada	12.1	15	11
81	Taiwan	12.1	2,892	2,251
82	Tajikistan	12.3	1,242	967
83	Saint Lucia	12.4	22	17
84	Sri Lanka	12.5	2,738	2,132
85	Turkmenistan	12.5	813	633
86	Iraq	12.6	5,733	4,464
87	Timor-Leste	12.7	178	138
88	Bhutan	12.8	101	78
89	United States	12.8	43,520	33,888
90	Uruguay	12.9	439	341
91	Ukraine	13	4,771	3,715
92	Mexico	13.1	16,834	13,108
93	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	13.1	14	10
94	Saudi Arabia	13.2	4,871	3,793
95	Jordan	13.5	1,526	1,188
96	Mauritius	13.7	178	138
97	Bahamas	13.8	57	44
98	Kyrgyzstan	13.8	925	720
99	Vanuatu	13.8	46	35
100	Peru	13.9	4,782	3,723
101	Argentina	14	6,524	5,080
102	Panama	14.2	639	497
103	Papua New Guinea	14.2	1,463	1,139
104	Suriname	14.2	88	68
105	Pakistan	14.3	34,392	26,780
106	Bosnia and Herzegovina	14.6	467	363
107	Solomon Islands	14.7	106	82
108	Afghanistan	15.1	6,372	4,961
109	Colombia	15.2	7,919	6,166
110	Bangladesh	15.3	26,194	20,397
111	Georgia	15.3	566	440
112	Nauru	15.4	2	1
113	India	15.6	222,862	173,540
114	Brazil	15.7	33,975	26,456
115	Bolivia	15.9	1,972	1,535
116	Nepal	15.9	4,913	3,825
117	Syria	16.2	3,758	2,926
118	Mongolia	16.5	561	436
119	Guatemala	16.6	3,005	2,339
120	Costa Rica	16.7	868	675
121	Laos	16.7	1,269	988
122	Tonga	16.8	18	14
123	Honduras	16.9	1,791	1,394
124	Cambodia	17.1	2,890	2,250
125	Jamaica	17.1	479	372
126	China	17.4	247,950	193,076
127	Vietnam	17.7	17,505	13,631
128	Cape Verde	17.9	107	83
129	Lebanon	18.1	996	775
130	Nicaragua	18.3	1,281	997
131	Haiti	18.5	2,165	1,685
132	North Korea	19.1	5,004	3,896
133	Belize	19.3	79	61
134	Myanmar	19.3	10,538	8,205
135	Guyana	19.4	157	122
136	Yemen	19.4	6,674	5,196
137	Ecuador	19.5	3,530	2,748
138	Morocco	19.9	7,522	5,857
139	Algeria	20.2	9,211	7,172
140	Nigeria	21.6	48,341	37,642
141	Sao Tome and Principe	21.6	50	38
142	Botswana	21.7	564	439
143	Djibouti	21.7	239	186
144	Iran	21.7	19,356	15,072
145	El Salvador	22.1	1,414	1,101
146	Palau	22.2	4	3
147	Tunisia	22.3	2,788	2,170
148	Malaysia	22.5	7,718	6,009
149	Paraguay	22.7	1,566	1,219
150	Ivory Coast	22.9	6,618	5,153
151	Gabon	22.9	550	428
152	Mali	23.1	5,382	4,190
153	Senegal	23.4	4,165	3,243
154	Comoros	23.5	200	155
155	Madagascar	23.6	7,151	5,568
156	Zambia	23.7	4,882	3,801
157	Equatorial Guinea	24.1	410	319
158	Mauritania	24.5	1,201	935
159	South Africa	24.5	14,798	11,523
160	Burundi	24.9	3,287	2,559
161	Ghana	24.9	8,491	6,611
162	Eritrea	25.3	936	728
163	Libya	25.4	1,753	1,365
164	Thailand	25.4	18,237	14,201
165	Rwanda	25.6	3,610	2,811
166	Sudan	25.7	12,362	9,626
167	Angola	26.1	9,579	7,459
168	Ethiopia	26.7	33,776	26,301
169	Eswatini	26.9	323	251
170	Liberia	26.9	1,453	1,131
171	Gambia	27.1	732	570
172	Somalia	27.1	4,905	3,819
173	Congo	27.4	1,671	1,301
174	Niger	27.4	7,453	5,803
175	Benin	27.5	3,768	2,934
176	Guinea-Bissau	27.5	605	471
177	Venezuela	27.5	7,920	6,167
178	Burkina Faso	28.2	6,571	5,116
179	Guinea	28.2	4,004	3,117
180	Kenya	28.2	15,538	12,099
181	Chad	28.5	5,216	4,061
182	Namibia	28.6	744	579
183	Lesotho	28.9	665	517
184	Uganda	29	14,094	10,974
185	Tanzania	29.2	19,681	15,325
186	Togo	29.2	2,657	2,068
187	Cameroon	29.4	8,408	6,547
188	Sierra Leone	29.9	2,631	2,048
189	Mozambique	30.1	10,204	7,945
190	Malawi	31	6,479	5,045
191	Central African Republic	33.6	1,915	1,491
192	DR Congo	33.7	34,475	26,845
193	South Sudan	33.9	3,763	2,930
194	Zimbabwe	34.7	5,795	4,512
195	Dominican Republic	64.6	7,300	5,684

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Questions

FAQ

Which country has the safest roads in the world?

Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Singapore and Japan consistently record the lowest road death rates — around 2 per 100,000 people or lower, versus a global average of roughly 15. Their shared approach is called the Safe System: design roads so that one human mistake is not fatal.

What is Vision Zero?

Vision Zero is the road-safety philosophy pioneered by Sweden in 1997: no death or serious injury on the roads is acceptable, so roads, speeds and vehicles must be designed around human error. Countries applying it have cut road deaths by half or more.

All figures are statistical estimates from WHO published rates — see the full methodology. Citing this table? Link back to this page as the source.