Reported number of casualties
This publication incorporates revisions to fatality figures for 2019-2023. More information can be found in the Supporting Information section of this publication.
Figure 2 shows that in 2024, 160 people were killed in road collisions in Scotland: 13 (9%) more than 2023.
Since 1978, there has been a long-term downward trend. More recent years' figures have fluctuated around a less pronounced downward trend. The Covid-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 had the lowest number of fatalities ever recorded and 2024 was the fifth-lowest with 160 fatalities.
Figure 3 shows that there were a total of 5,576 casualties (of all severities) reported in 2024: 262 (4%) less than in 2023 and the third lowest number since annual records began in 1950.
Between circa 1970 and 1990, the figures fluctuated around a general downward trend, with numbers falling from the short-term peak in 1989 & 1990 (of over 27,000). Since 1998, there has been a consistent reduction, with numbers falling below 12,000 in 2013, which was half the level of the early 1990s.
Note for Figure 3: Due to changes in the way casualty severity is recorded, serious and slight figures prior to 2004 are not directly comparable with later years.
In 2024, 1,931 people were seriously injured in road collisions. As outlined above, this figure cannot be directly compared to the reported figures prior to 2004. Figure 4 uses adjusted figures to show how many serious casualties there would have been in previous years if they had been recorded using an injury-based reporting system. The number of people seriously injured in 2024 decreased by 1% on 2023. Figure 3 shows that the longer-term trend for fatal and serious casualties has generally been downward since the early 1980s.
There were 3,485 people reported as slightly injured in 2024. Once again, this figure cannot be directly compared to the reported figures for previous years prior to 2004. The number of people slightly injured in road collisions in 2024 decreased by 7% on 2023. Figure 3 shows that the number of slight casualties has shown a clear downward trend since the mid-1990s.
