Road deaths in Cyprus rose by 10 per cent in 2025, with 45 fatalities recorded, according to figures published on Tuesday by the European Commission’s transport directorate.

The island’s road fatality rate was slightly above the EU average of 43 deaths per million inhabitants, although the number of fatalities remained 13 per cent below the 2019 level and 12 per cent below the 2017 figure.

Data for the first half of this year show a fall of more than 10 per cent compared with the same period last year.

However, Cyprus has recorded 34 road fatalities so far this year, matching the number registered at the same point in 2025, which was the deadliest year of the past five years.

Fourteen of this year’s victims were motorcyclists.

Speeding and mobile phone use remain among the main contributing factors in fatal collisions, while drivers under the age of 24 feature prominently among those killed.

A European transport safety council report published in June found Cyprus cut road deaths by 13.5 per cent between 2019 and 2025 and by 21.1 per cent over the past decade, slightly better than the EU average of 20.2 per cent.

Across the EU, 19,350 people died in road collisions in 2025, a decrease of 3 per cent compared with 2024 and 15 per cent compared with 2019.

Only Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Poland and Romania are currently on track to meet the EU target of halving road deaths by 2030.

Bulgaria recorded the highest road fatality rate, at 71 deaths per million inhabitants, followed by Romania with 68 and Croatia with 65.

Sweden recorded the lowest rate, at 19 deaths per million inhabitants.