Accredited official statistics

Reported road casualties Great Britain, provisional results: 2023

Updated 10 July 2024

About this release
This release provides an estimate of the number of personal injury road traffic casualties in Great Britain that were reported by the police in 2023 using the STATS19 reporting system. These figures are provisional as they will change following the end of year validation process.
Data by road user type and police force are available in the accompanying data tables.

These are accredited official statistics^{[footnote 1]} and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2009. For more information, see the about these statistics section.

Headline figures

In reported road collisions in Great Britain in 2023 there were an estimated:

• 1,645 fatalities, a decline of 4% compared to 2022

• 29,643 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, little change compared to 2022

• 132,063 casualties of all severities, a decline of 3% compared to 2022

Considering the different road user types and demographics, the statistics show:

• of the 4 main road user types, the road user type with the biggest estimated percentage change for 2023 compared to 2022 for fatalities was motorcyclists, which showed a decline of 12%

• of the 4 main road user types, pedal cyclists had the biggest estimated percentage change for 2023 compared to 2022 for all casualties, which showed a decline of 6%

• in 2023, 75% of fatalities and 61% of casualties of all severities were male

Chart 1: Reported road KSI (adjusted) casualties, in Great Britain, 2013 to 2023 (provisional)

Things you need to know

Provisional figures

Figures in this release are provisional and are based on data supplied by police forces by May 2024. A small amount of missing data has been estimated. Figures will change following updates from the police and the end of year validation process. Further details are given in the background information section.

Severity adjustment

The figures in this release for injured casualties are based on adjusting figures reported by the police to take account of changes in the reporting of injury severity by some police forces in recent years. These adjusted figures, which change annually as new data is added, can reliably be used to compare trends over time across the country. More details can be found in our severity adjustments guidance.

Data coverage

There is no obligation for people to report all personal injury collisions to the police. These figures, therefore, do not represent the full range of all collisions or casualties in Great Britain. All collisions reported by the police and that occurred on a public highway involving at least one motor vehicle, horse rider or pedal cyclist, and where at least one person was injured, are included in these statistics. More information on STATS19, how road traffic casualty data is collected and how these figures are produced can be found in the accompanying guidance.

Overall casualties

Casualties by severity

Casualties are broken down into fatalities (people killed in road collisions), and those injured (further split into seriously and slightly injured based on type of injury sustained). Killed and seriously injured casualties are commonly grouped together as ‘KSIs’.

It has long been known that non-fatal (and particularly slight) casualties are under-reported to the police, though we believe that the trends shown are likely to reflect genuine changes. Further information is available in the quality section below.

Chart 2 and Table 1 show the trend in road casualties by severity over the last decade. Trends in road casualties are affected by a wide range of factors, with 2020 and 2021 being impacted by COVID-19. There is an increase in casualty numbers between 2020 and 2022 - this is due to the impact of national restrictions on 2020 and 2021 casualty numbers. In the decade prior to the pandemic in 2020, fatalities had been generally stable. The 2023 figures broadly show a return to pre-pandemic trends.

Casualty counts are also impacted by traffic levels with casualty trends following a broadly similar pattern to motor traffic (in terms of billion vehicle miles) during periods of national COVID-19 lockdown. Trends in casualty rates are further explored in the next section. In 2023, there were 334 billion vehicle miles travelled, an increase of 2% compared to 2022.

In reported road collisions in Great Britain in 2023 there were an estimated:

• 1,645 fatalities, a decline of 4% compared to 2022

• 29,643 KSI casualties, little change compared to 2022

• 132,063 casualties of all severities, a decline of 3% compared to 2022

Chart 2: Reported road casualties by severity and all road traffic (billion vehicle miles), in Great Britain, 2013 to 2023 (provisional) RAS9101

Table 1: Reported road casualties by severity, in Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 and 2013 RAS9101

Severity	2023	% change from 2022	% change from 2013
Killed	1,645	-4	-4
Seriously injured (adjusted)	27,998	0	-10
KSI (adjusted)	29,643	0	-10
Slightly injured (adjusted)	102,420	-3	-32
All casualties	132,063	-3	-28
Traffic (billion vehicle miles)	334	2	8

Trends in casualty rates

Chart 3 and Table 2 show the trend in road casualty rates over the last decade. Casualty rates in general fell steadily prior to 2020, with larger reductions in injured casualties than fatalities. This was a period where vehicle traffic increased steadily. From 2020, patterns in casualty numbers largely reflect changes in traffic patterns, in particular during periods of COVID-19 lockdown, therefore overall trends in casualty rates have remained broadly stable, though there was a decrease in casualty rates between 2022 to 2023.

In reported road collisions in Great Britain in 2023, there were an estimated:

• 5 fatalities per billion vehicle miles travelled, a decline of 6% compared to 2022

• 89 KSI casualties per billion vehicle miles travelled, a decline of 2% compared to 2022

• 395 casualties of all severities per billion vehicle miles travelled, a decline of 5% compared to 2022

Chart 3: Reported road casualty rates per billion vehicle miles broken down by severity, in Great Britain, 2013 to 2023 (provisional)

Table 2: Reported road casualty rates per billion vehicle miles broken down by severity, in Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared to 2022 and 2013

Severity	2023	% change from 2022	% change from 2013
Fatalities per billion vehicle miles	5	-6	-11
KSIs per billion vehicle miles	89	-2	-17
Casualties per billion vehicle miles	395	-5	-34

Casualties by road user type

The 4 main road user types (car occupants, pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists) are used in the charts below to show comparisons with 2022.

While provisional statistics for the 4 main road user types are likely to give a reasonable indication of trends, figures for other road user types can be impacted by classification issues, as explained in the quality section below. Therefore, these figures should be interpreted with caution.

‘Other vehicle occupants’ include e-scooters, which account for much of the increase in casualties for this road user category compared to 2019 figures. A provisional annual update on e-scooter casualties for 2023, which are not explicitly covered in this release, is available in the e-scooter factsheet.

Fatalities by road user type

Chart 4 shows fatalities for 2023 for the 4 main road user types: car occupants, pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists.

In 2023, 46% of fatalities were car occupants, 25% were pedestrians, 19% were motorcyclists and 5% were pedal cyclists.

Of these 4 road user types:

• the biggest percentage change compared to 2022 was for motorcyclists, which showed a decline of 12%

• car occupant fatalities showed a decline of 5%

• pedal cyclist fatalities showed a decline of 7%

• pedestrian fatalities showed an increase of 6%

Chart 4: Reported road fatalities by road user type, Great Britain in 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 RAS9101

Table 3: Reported road fatalities by road user type, in Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 and 2013 RAS9101

Road User Type	2023	% change from 2022	% change from 2013
Car occupants	749	-5	-5
Pedestrians	407	6	2
Motorcyclists	306	-12	-7
Pedal cyclists	84	-7	-23
Goods vehicles occupants	53	-16	-9
Other vehicle occupants	40	29	82
Bus or coach occupants	5	67	-50

All casualties by road user type

Chart 5 shows overall casualties figures split into the 4 main road user types: car occupants, pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists.

In 2023, 55% of casualties were car occupants, 15% were pedestrians, 13% were motorcyclists and 11% were pedal cyclists.

Of these 4 road user types:

• the biggest percentage change compared to 2022 was for pedal cyclists, which showed a decline of 6%

• there was also a decrease for car occupant casualties, but pedestrian and motorcyclist casualty numbers were at a similar level to 2022

Chart 5: Reported road casualties by road user type, Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 RAS9101

Table 4: Reported road casualties by road user type, Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 and 2013 RAS9101

Road User Type	2023	% change from 2022	% change from 2013
Car occupants	72,155	-3	-34
Pedestrians	19,156	-1	-20
Motorcyclists	16,756	-1	-11
Pedal cyclists	14,770	-6	-24
Goods vehicles occupants	4,487	-6	-22
Bus or coach occupants	2,514	18	-48
Other vehicle occupants	2,226	-1	111

Casualties by age and sex

Chart 6 shows fatalities and all casualties split by both sex and age group.

Overall, in 2023:

• 75% of fatalities and 61% of casualties of all severities were male
• 4% of fatalities and 10% of casualties were aged 16 years old and under
• 24% of fatalities and 29% of casualties were aged 17 to 29 years old
• 23% of fatalities and 8% of casualties were aged 70 years old and over

Chart 6: Reported road fatalities and all casualties by age group and sex in Great Britain, 2013 to 2023 (provisional) RAS9102

Fatalities by age and sex

Overall, 75% of fatalities were male in 2023.

In 2023 the age group with the most male fatalities was 30 to 49 year olds with 358 fatalities, a decline of 5% compared to 2022. For females the age group with the most fatalities in 2023 was 70 year olds and over with 151 fatalities, a decline of 1% compared to 2022.

As the numbers in each group are small, there can be large fluctuations when comparing between years, as shown in Chart 6 and Table 5.

Table 5: Reported road fatalities by age group and sex in Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 and 2013 RAS9102

Sex	Age group (years)	2023	% change from 2022	% change from 2013
Male	0 to 16	51	31	38
Male	17 to 29	311	-10	-24
Male	30 to 49	358	-5	-2
Male	50 to 69	282	-3	3
Male	70 and over	221	-8	19
Male	All ages	1,223	-5	-4
Female	0 to 16	21	17	-25
Female	17 to 29	74	0	-33
Female	30 to 49	66	-25	-27
Female	50 to 69	102	19	46
Female	70 and over	151	-1	6
Female	All ages	414	-1	-6

All casualties by age and sex

Overall, 61% of casualties of all severities were male in 2023.

In 2023 the age group with the most male casualties of all severities was 30 to 49 year olds with 26,560 casualties. For females the 30 to 49 year old age group also had the most casualties of all severities in 2023 with 16,081 casualties.

Compared to 2022 there was a slightly larger fall in male casualties than female casualties, as shown in Table 6. For both males and females, the age group showing the largest percentage reduction in casualties was 17 to 29 year olds.

Table 6: Reported road casualties by age group and sex in Great Britain, 2023 (provisional) compared with 2022 and 2013 RAS9102

Sex	Age group (years)	2023	% change from 2022	% change from 2013
Male	0 to 16	7,776	-2	-26
Male	17 to 29	24,023	-4	-32
Male	30 to 49	26,560	-3	-28
Male	50 to 69	15,386	-2	-14
Male	70 and over	5,017	-1	-9
Male	All ages	78,762	-3	-26
Female	0 to 16	5,316	-1	-31
Female	17 to 29	12,871	-6	-45
Female	30 to 49	16,081	-1	-32
Female	50 to 69	10,579	-1	-22
Female	70 and over	4,745	2	-18
Female	All ages	49,592	-2	-33

Background quality information

Detailed guidance on road casualty statistics is given on our guidance page. A full list of the definitions used in this publication can be found in our notes and definitions documentation.

Quality and methodology

Quality

Road casualty statistics have been assessed as Accredited Official Statistics, indicating compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. Full details of the quality of these statistics are available in the background quality report.

There are several important areas which users of the statistics should be aware of which are listed below.

Provisional figures

These provisional annual figures are the second accredited official statistics published on the number of road casualties in Great Britain during 2023. They follow the mid-year estimates published in November 2023. Final annual figures are scheduled for publication in September 2024.

These are provisional estimates which have not been validated in detail and include imputation for missing data. Missing data for Thames Valley, Derbyshire and Wiltshire police forces has been imputed for some months where data was not supplied or not considered to be complete. Overall the imputed data accounts for 1% of casualties and 2% of fatalities. There may be some duplicates, as some casualties might have been logged twice or more, these will be deleted following end of year validation. The potential of duplicate records is relatively small and therefore this publication provides a good picture of the road safety landscape especially at high aggregation.

Provisional results for some road user types can be impacted by misclassified vehicle types. Misclassified vehicle types are reported back to the police who will return a designated vehicle type where notified. Vehicles are matched to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database and where there is a good body type match, vehicle type may be reclassified.

These factors are unlikely to affect the high-level national trends shown, but will have a bigger impact on figures for individual police force areas.

Comparison of provisional and final figures

In order to assess the impact of the validation process an assessment of the difference between published provisional figures and final figures has been conducted. This analysis shows that there are only minor changes between the provisional and final figures at a national level (typically less than 1%) and these do not affect the overall trends. There is also no specific bias to the differences, with some provisional figures being over-estimates and some being under-estimates. Further details are available in the background quality report.

Under-reporting

Comparisons of road collision reports with death registrations show that very few, if any, road collision fatalities are not reported to the police. However, a considerable proportion of non-fatal casualties are not known to the police, as hospital, survey and compensation claims data all indicate a higher number of casualties than those recorded in police collision data. More information on the coherence of the police reported data with alternative sources can be found in our comparison to other sources of information on road casualties.

Changes in reporting systems used by police forces

From 2016 onwards, figures on the severity of injury have been affected by a large number of police forces changing their reporting systems. It is likely that the recording of injury severity is more accurate for forces using these new reporting systems.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Methodology Advisory Service have completed analysis to quantify the effect of the introduction of new injury based reporting systems on the number of slight and serious injuries reported to the police, and to estimate the level of slight and serious injuries as if all police forces were using injury-based reporting systems.

For more information, please see our guide to severity adjustments.

Online self-reporting

Online self-reporting is part of a wider project for digital public contact known as Single Online Home. It is funded by the Home Office to allow people involved in road traffic collisions to report the collision to the police online should they choose to do so, rather than having to physically report it at a police station.

The principle of online reporting is to make it easier for members of the public to report collisions. It is expected that the introduction of online reporting will affect the number of non-fatal (and particularly slight) casualties reported and therefore impact the total for Great Britain, as the public will have more reporting options available to them.

See our analysis of the impact of online self reporting for more details.

User engagement, developments and STATS19 review

Details of users and uses of road casualty statistics and response to recent user feedback is available from our user engagement page.

The STATS19 system which provides the majority of statistics for this publication is periodically reviewed to keep up with changes in technology, to make improvements to completeness and accuracy, and to reduce the reporting burden. Key recommendations of the latest review, carried out in 2018, can be found in the full STATS19 review report.

About these statistics

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2009. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs. More information can be found on our accredited official statistics status webpage.

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in our pre-release access list.

Forthcoming changes

As part of work to implement the recommendations of the most recent STATS19 review, we have set out the planned approach for the transition from contributory factors to the new road safety factors within the published road casualty statistics. An initial analysis is available and feedback from users of these statistics is welcome.

We are also making changes to the calculation of casualty rates at local authority level. In future the calculation of these rates will exclude pedal cycle traffic. Further details are available from the annual data tables page.

Details of further proposed changes and a user feedback request are scheduled for July. Any changes will be implemented as part of the annual casualty statistics scheduled for publication in September.

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Contact details

Road safety statistics

Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk

1. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Accredited Official Statistics Policy – Office for Statistics Regulation ↩