Number of fatalities in traffic accidents in China 2009-2019
Road traffic in China
The number of road traffic fatalities in China varies greatly from region to region. Guangdong and Hubei had been the provinces with the highest number of traffic fatalities. All located in the eastern coastal area of China, they had also been the regions with the most traffic accidents in 2020. On the contrary, only a small number of fatalities had been reported in central and western regions of China. Reasons for this imbalance may be found in less traffic volume as well as the existence of fewer urban congested areas.
Since 2016, the number of casualties and fatalities from traffic accidents in China has increased significantly, reaching 256,101 injuries and 62,763 deaths in 2019. Nevertheless, traffic accidents have emerged as one of the leading causes of death in China. The primary reasons may be unregulated road works and a lack of awareness among Chinese drivers. The development of neither road infrastructure nor driving behavior in China had been able to keep up with the increasing number of traffic participants and registered cars. As of 2003, only 24 million vehicles had been registered in China, whereas by 2019 that number had skyrocketed to 253.76 million cars. In 2019 alone, the number of newly registered vehicles in China had amounted to around 25.5 million cars.