Road deaths in Ireland last year increased by 31 per cent compared with 2019, according to a new report that shows a decline across the vast majority of European countries over the same period.The 20th Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Report, published on Tuesday, shows Ireland was one of just four countries to record a rise in fatalities between the two years, whereas 24 saw reductions. The document, compiled by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), a non-profit organisation that provides advice to the European Commission, noted Ireland’s 140 fatalities in 2019 and 183 in 2025. The research is based on aggregate data analysis covering 31 countries: the 27 European Union member states (EU27), the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland and Serbia.It found road deaths in Ireland increased by 7 per cent between 2024, when the figure stood at 171, and 2025.In a 10-year period from 2015 to 2025, the highest number of road deaths in Ireland was recorded in 2025 and the lowest was 132 in 2021.Ireland has created road safety initiatives such as a focus on drink-driving and a secondary-school road safety education programme, the document notes. It also point to the development of a collision map, launched by the Road Safety Authority, which identifies the location of road traffic collisions causing injuries across the country.The 2026 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index Award, which recognises sustained long-term improvement, was presented to Denmark. Ireland was the 2019 recipient.In 2025, 19,492 people lost their lives on roads in the EU, while more than 100,000 are estimated to have been seriously injured. Road deaths in the EU have fallen by 15 per cent from 22,823 in 2019 and by 20 per cent since 2015, when the figure stood at 24,413.The data counts a fatality as a person who dies immediately or within 30 days from injuries sustained in a collision on a public road. In 2025, within the EU27 group, average road mortality was 43 deaths per million inhabitants, compared with 55 per million in 2015.Ireland is ranked seventh in road mortality with a rate of 34 in 2025, compared with 35 in 2015. The report notes that although the rate has changed little since 2015 it remained better than the EU average. Norway and Sweden had the lowest road deaths per million inhabitants for 2025 with 19 while Serbia and Bulgaria had the highest road mortality with 74 and 71 deaths per million inhabitants respectively. The report made a number of recommendations such as adopting and implementing the Safe System approach to road safety. This addresses all elements of the road transport system in an integrated way, adopting shared overall responsibility and accountability between system designers and road users.It also recommended accelerating progress by providing sufficient government funds and incentive models for regional and local levels, among other measures.