Skip to main content

The world’s most dangerous roads: WHO report

A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies the most dangerous countries in the world to travel by road. According to the report, Venezuela now has the highest level of road fatalities, with 45.1 deaths/million of population. Libya previously held the top slot for the world’s most dangerous roads, but has seen major improvements in road safety now moving it down in terms of risk to 49th place.
August 8, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A new report from the 3263 World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies the most dangerous countries in the world to travel by road. According to the report, Venezuela now has the highest level of road fatalities, with 45.1 deaths/million of population. Libya previously held the top slot for the world’s most dangerous roads, but has seen major improvements in road safety now moving it down in terms of risk to 49th place. Thailand however has seen no such improvement and retains its slot as the country with the second highest level of road fatalities in the world at 35 deaths/million of population. Malawi is in third place and has 33.7 road deaths/million of population while Liberia is in fourth place and has 33.2 road deaths/million of population. Of note is that of the 20 countries in the world with the most dangerous roads, 16 are in Africa (this includes Madagascar in 18th place).


Meanwhile Monaco has the lowest rate of road fatalities, with no deaths at all recorded in the WHO survey, followed by Micronesia in second place, with just 1.9 road deaths/million of population. Sweden is in third place and has just 2.8 road deaths/million of population, followed by Kiribati and the UK, in equal fourth place and each with 2.9 road deaths/million of population. Of the 20 countries in the world with the safest roads, 16 are in Europe.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Joining forces on safety'
    April 12, 2012
    The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) welcomed the launch of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, saying it will enable the European Union to join forces in tackling road safety at a global level. The UN move aims to reduce by 50% the projected increase in road deaths by 2020, and was developed with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which predicts that road traffic injuries will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030 in the world. It demanded action to correct t
  • East African authorities trying to cut spiraling road death rates
    December 10, 2013
    Road fatality rates are rising in East Africa, despite attempts to stem the tide – Shem Oirere writes When a passenger bus in Kenya killed 42 people on August 29th 2013, it coincided with the release of a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that painted a grim picture of the status of road safety in East Africa. The accident at Ntulele shopping centre along the Nairobi-Narok highway, 90km from capital Nairobi, occurred when the bus heading to western Kenya lost control and crashed. The driver is said to
  • Thailand’s poor road safety again in the spotlight
    January 10, 2018
    Thailand’s poor road safety standards are once more being highighted, following a spate of road deaths during the recent holiday period. By the fourth day of Thailand’s one-week New Year’s holiday travel period, the country had already seen 239 road deaths from 2,308 crashes. There were also around 2,500 people injured in crashes in this time. The highest road death tolls during the period were seen in Ubon Ratchathani and Si Sa Ket. Meanwhile Chiang Mai experienced 86 crashes, the highest level of incident
  • US road safety record
    April 26, 2012
    The latest official statistics from the US on road accidents show that fatality levels on the nation's roads have dropped to the lowest figures seen for more than six decades. The information was released by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, revealing that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for 2010, the lowest level since 1949.