This report presents tabulations of road deaths and road death rates for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations and Australian states and territories. The rates allow for a comparison of Australia’s road safety performance with that of other OECD nations by accounting for the differing levels of populations, motorisation and distances travelled.
- In terms of annual deaths per 100,000 population in 2012: Australia’s rate of 5.72 was the 16th lowest rate out of the 33 nations with available data. The nations with the two lowest rates were Iceland (2.81) and United Kingdom (2.83).
Between 2003 and 2012, the annual population-standardised risk of a road crash fatality in Australia declined by a total of 30.5 per cent. Over the same period the OECD median rate fell by 38.9 per cent. The rates for all Australian jurisdictions decreased by between 5 per cent (Australian Capital Territory) and 45 per cent (South Australia).
- In terms of annual deaths per 10,000 registered vehicles in 2012: Australia’s rate of 0.78 was the 14th lowest rate out of the 30 nations with available data. The nations with the two lowest rates were Iceland (0.34) and Norway (0.39).
Annual road deaths in Australia relative to vehicle ownership declined between 2003 and 2012 by a total of 37.0 per cent. During this period the median rate for OECD nations declined by 49.2 per cent. Australian jurisdictions achieved reductions of between 13 per cent (Australian Capital Territory) and 49 per cent (South Australia).
- In terms of annual deaths per 100 million vehicle-kilometres-travelled in 2012: Australia’s rate of 0.56 was the 12th lowest rate out of 20 nations with available data. The nations with the two lowest rates were Iceland (0.29) and Norway (0.33).
Between 2003 and 2012, Australia’s rate declined by a total of 29.0 per cent whilst the OECD median declined by 43.3 per cent. For Australian jurisdictions, the reductions ranged from 2 per cent (Australian Capital Territory) to 42 per cent (South Australia).