National statistics

Reported road casualties Great Britain, provisional results: 2021

Personal injury accident statistics on public roads in Great Britain for 2021.

Documents

Proposed changes to road casualty data tables

Details

The number of reported road casualties in 2021 continued to be impacted by the national restrictions following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including a period of lockdown between January and March. Casualty numbers increased compared to 2020, which was also affected by the pandemic, but remained lower than the pre-pandemic levels.

Provisional statistics on reported road casualties in Great Britain for 2021 show that there were:

  • an estimated 1,560 reported road deaths in 2021, a reduction of 12% from the 2017 to 2019 average
  • an estimated 27,300 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in 2021, a reduction of 13% from the 2017 to 2019 average
  • an estimated 127,967 casualties of all severities in 2021, a reduction of 21% from the 2017 to 2019 average

There were increases in casualties of all severities in 2021 compared to 2020, though pedal cyclists showed a reduction in fatalities (20%). Monthly changes in overall casualties compared to 2020 generally showed a similar trend to changes in motor traffic levels.

Alongside this publication, we have also published provisional 2021 statistics for e-scooter casualties and a factsheet on older driver casualties based on data to 2020.

Final annual road casualty statistics for 2021 are scheduled for publication in September. We are planning to make some changes to terminology and the published data tables for this publication. Details are set out in our forthcoming changes guidance and we would welcome any feedback via our short user survey in relation to these changes or any other aspects of our road safety statistics.

Contact us

Road safety statistics

Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk

Public enquiries 020 7944 6595

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

Published 25 May 2022