Italy saw a stable number of road fatalities in 2024, with 3,030 deaths recorded across 173,364 accidents, according to the latest data from Istat. Although the death toll decreased slightly by 0.3% compared to 2023, the number of accidents and injuries rose by 4.1%, reaching 233,853 injuries. The road mortality rate dropped marginally from 51.5 to 51.4 deaths per million inhabitants.
Motorcyclists, e-scooter users, and truck occupants were more likely to be fatally injured. Motorcycle deaths increased to 830 (+13.1%), truck occupants to 146 (+30.4%), and e-scooter fatalities rose to 23 (up from 21 in 2023). Meanwhile, car occupant deaths fell by 6%, and pedestrian and cyclist fatalities also declined, according to Istat’s report.
Motorway accidents and injuries rose significantly, with a 6.9% and 7.0% increase respectively, and motorway fatalities grew by 7.1%. In contrast, urban road deaths dropped by 2.1%, and rural roads saw a minimal increase of 0.1%.
Italy continues to report a higher road death rate than the EU average. In 2024, the EU27 recorded 20,017 road deaths, a 2.2% decline from 2023. The EU figure equates to 45 deaths per million inhabitants, well below Italy’s 51 per million.
Excessive speed major cause of accidents
Distraction, failure to yield, and excessive speed remained the main causes of accidents, together accounting for nearly 38% of all recorded causes. Excessive speed was the most penalised infraction after illegal parking, making up 34% of all fines. Fines for drug-impaired driving increased, while those for alcohol-related offences fell slightly.
The estimated social cost of road accidents with injuries in 2024 stood at €18 billion, close to 1% of Italy’s GDP. When property-damage-only accidents are included, the total rises to around €22.6 billion.
In November 2024, Transport Minister Salvini’s new road code was introduced. However, it drew criticism from grieving families who said it didn’t do enough to deal with excessive speed issues.
Mobility levels stabilised in 2024
Mobility levels stabilised in 2024 after strong post-COVID growth. Italians made an average of 96.5 million trips on a typical weekday, unchanged from 2023 but still 6% below 2019 levels. The most common form of travel was by private car, accounting for 64.7% of trips in 2023 and 63.1% in early 2024, confirming Italy’s place among Europe’s most car-dependent countries.
Public transport made a modest recovery, reaching an 8.0% modal share in early 2024, still below pre-pandemic levels. Shared mobility services, especially e-scooters, saw a contraction in supply but not in usage. In contrast, demand-responsive transport services expanded in number, particularly in northern Italy.
E-bike sales continued to rise modestly (+0.3%), with 274,000 units sold in 2024, accounting for one in five bikes sold. This was double the share in 2019. Traditional bike sales declined slightly.
Italy’s car market showed 0.7% growth in 2024, while the motorway network saw vehicle mileage exceed 83 billion kilometres, up 2.2% from 2023. Traffic growth was strongest among heavy vehicles.
