There were 34,640 road traffic accidents in 2021, bringing the total of casualties to 42,566, including 38,952 slightly injured, 3,098 seriously injured and 516 persons who died within 30 days of the accident. This is what emerged from the latest figures on road traffic accidents published by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
Compared to 2020, there were 14.5% more road accidents in 2021, causing 14.6% more casualties and killing 3.4% more people. Given the exceptional nature of the figures for 2020, we will compare the results for 2021 with those for 2019.
The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on all the road safety indicators remained significant in 2021. Compared to 2019, there were fewer accidents (-8.2%), fewer casualties (-11.0%), fewer people who died within 30 days (-19.9%), fewer seriously injured (-14.1%) and fewer slightly injured (-10.6%).
Decrease especially at the beginning of the year
The months of January and February registered decreases of 24.3% and 28.2% of road accidents respectively compared to the same months in 2019. Only the months of June, September and October had more accidents than two years earlier.
The restrictions to limit the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic also had a positive impact on the number of road traffic casualties. While the decrease is more marked at the beginning of the year, all months, with the exception of September and November, were more favourable than those of 2019 in terms of deaths on our roads. The number of deaths was the lowest in March with 28, i.e. 48.1% fewer deaths than in March 2019.
Half as many deaths in Brussels
The number of persons who died within 30 days of an accident decreased in the three regions compared to 2019, but not uniformly:
- There were 8 fatalities in Brussels, which is 60% less than in 2019 but also half the number in 2020.
- The Walloon Region suffered 198 fatalities, i.e. 35.9% less than in 2019 and also 13.9% less than in 2020.
- In Flanders, there is a slight decrease (-1.6%) in the number of people who died within 30 days compared to 2019 but an increase of 22.5% compared to 2020.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021/2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | ||||
| Number of accidents | 3,928 | 3,224 | 3,534 | -10.0% |
| Number of persons who died within 30 days | 20 | 16 | 8 | -60.0% |
| Number of seriously injured | 178 | 159 | 134 | -24.7% |
| Number of slightly injured | 4,401 | 3,552 | 3,960 | -10.0% |
| Flemish Region | ||||
| Number of accidents | 23,078 | 18,663 | 21,213 | -8.1% |
| Number of persons who died within 30 days | 315 | 253 | 310 | -1.6% |
| Number of seriously injured | 2,478 | 2,055 | 2,204 | -11.1% |
| Number of slightly injured | 26,274 | 20,491 | 23,277 | -11.4% |
| Walloon Region | ||||
| Number of accidents | 10,713 | 8,364 | 9,893 | -7.6% |
| Number of persons who died within 30 days | 309 | 230 | 198 | -35.9% |
| Number of seriously injured | 949 | 764 | 760 | -19.9% |
| Number of slightly injured | 12,908 | 9,630 | 11,715 | -9.2% |
Compared to 2019, the number of people who died within 30 days only increased in the provinces of Limburg (+15.5%) and Antwerp (+3.8%) and remained the same in West Flanders. All the other provinces saw a decrease in fatalities, with Luxembourg (-44.9%) almost halving the 2019 total.
Who are the victims of road traffic accidents?
In 2021, the majority of persons who died within 30 days were drivers (215), followed by cyclists (87), pedestrians (75) and motorcyclists (62). The sum of these 4 categories gives a total of 85% of the people who died within 30 days.
Compared to 2019, cars register a 31% decrease in the number of persons who died within 30 days (from 311 in 2019 to 215 in 2021). The decrease amounts to 18% among pedestrians (from 92 in 2019 to 75 in 2021).
Vans (+65%) and heavy goods vehicles (+36%) registered an increase in the number of fatalities compared to 2019.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021/2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car[1] | 311 | 221 | 215 | -30.9% |
| Van | 17 | 11 | 28 | +64.7% |
| Heavy goods vehicle[2] | 11 | 17 | 15 | +36.4% |
| Motorcycle[3] | 84 | 78 | 62 | -26.2% |
| Moped[4] | 19 | 13 | 16 | -15.8% |
| Pedestrian[5] | 92 | 65 | 75 | -18.5% |
| Bicycle[6] | 95 | 87 | 87 | -8.4% |
| Others[7] | 10 | 6 | 11 | +10.0% |
| Unknown | 5 | 1 | 7 | +40.0% |
| Total | 644 | 499 | 516 | -19.9% |
| 1 passenger car; twin-purpose car; minibus; camping vehicle 2 truck, tractor + semi-trailer; tractor alone 3 less than 400 cc and more than 400 cc 4 A, B, with 3 or 4 wheels 5 Other pedestrian, person in a wheelchair, pedestrian with a two-wheeled vehicle 6 regular and electric bicycle 7 Agricultural tractor, bus, coach, rider, other user, carriage |
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