Annual trauma

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Over the decade

In 2023 there were 1,272 road crash deaths in Australia. This is 92 (or 7.8%) more deaths than in 2022. Since an observed low in 2020, fatalities have been increasing by approximately 5% per year.

The rate of annual deaths per 100,000 population declined over the 6 years to 2020 (4.28) but since then the rate has increased by 4% per year, reaching 4.77 in 2023.

The rates of annual deaths per population vary significantly between jurisdictions: NSW, Victoria and the ACT have the lowest rates. The trends over time also vary: Queensland's rates have increased over the decade and the NT has declined (although it is still 3 times higher than other jurisdictions).

Annual hospitalised injuries have also increased. Between 2012 and 2021 (the latest available) the total increase amounted to 16.1%.              

Road user 

Since 2020, annual deaths of drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians have increased the most out of all road user types. In the 6 years prior to 2020, these groups showed flat trends. Deaths of vulnerable road users (pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists) show a similar pattern: relatively flat in the 6 years between 2014 and 2019, and then an increase to 2023.

The trends in hospitalised injuries by road user type have some similarity to deaths: over the last 10 years, hospitalisations of motorcyclists and drivers have consistently increased.

Demographics 

The overall distribution of deaths by age group has not changed significantly over the decade. Of all deaths:

• ages 65 and over account for 22% 
• 40-64 account for 31% 
• 26-39 account for 22% 
• 17-25 account for 19% 
• the under 16 years group account for 5%
• In the 0-7 age group, there are on average 20 deaths per year. There has been a slight decreasing trend in this group over the decade.

Males today account for 74% of all road deaths. This has increased from 71% 10 years ago. The proportion of deaths that are male varies by road user group.

Numbers of deaths per annum per unit population by age group are consistently highest for the 75+ and the 17-25 age groups.

Regions

Approximately two-thirds of road deaths occur in regional and remote areas, and one third occur in major cities. However, when categorising hospitalised injuries from road crashes these proportions are reversed: two-thirds occur in major cities and one third in regional or remote areas.

About the data

The 2 data sources for fatalities in this report are the Australian Road Deaths Database (ARDD) and the National Road Safety Research and Reporting Database (Research Database). 

The scope of the ARDD is all fatal road crashes in Australia. It comprises basic demographic and crash information only and is updated each month. The tables in this report presenting fatal crash data for 2014-2023 are based on the ARDD.(Opens in a new tab/window)

The scope of the Research Database is all fatal and injury crashes across Australia. It contains greater detail than the ARDD and is the source for formal reporting on progress against the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30(Opens in a new tab/window) fatality indicators. This database is updated annually. The tables in this report presenting fatal crash data for 2013-2022 are based on the Research Database. 

Due to the timing differences in data receipt and ongoing validation by data providers, there are minor data differences between the 2 databases.

Injury data is sourced from tables supplied by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Population data is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics National, state and territory population (September 2023).

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• Annual Trauma Statistics 2022(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Historical Annual Trauma Statistics(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Road deaths in Australia 1925-2008(Opens in a new tab/window)