Road deaths double in Brussels despite decline elsewhere in Belgium

While Belgium saw the lowest number of road deaths ever recorded in 2025, Brussels remains an outlier, where the figure has actually doubled in a year.

In Flanders, 234 people (-6%) were killed in traffic accidents last year, according to an analysis of police data from traffic institute Vias, compared to 191 (-3%) in Wallonia.

But while there were 10 road deaths in the Belgian capital in 2024, that number doubled to 20 deaths in 2025.

“Behind these statistics are people, with families and networks,” Brussels mobility minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) said in a statement.

“Every person who loses their life in traffic is one too many. Road safety deserves the absolute attention of this government on many fronts.

"We will therefore continue to tackle the most dangerous intersections and strengthen the 30 km/h zone. We will continue to work closely with the police on checks and awareness-raising, and we will also continue to secure school environments."

For the minister, the goal remains to strive for zero road deaths.

“Vision zero remains our guiding principle. Our work will not stop as long as people are dying on our roads,” said Van den Brandt.

While the number of injury accidents in Belgium increased last year by 2.9% to 36,621, the number of overall pedestrian deaths fell across the country from 70 to 52, the lowest number ever.

The fact that there are more accidents but fewer fatalities shows that the severity of accidents is decreasing, Vias said.

In 2016, there were still an average of 16 deaths per 1,000 accidents involving injuries, compared to 12 in 2025.

“This shows that when accidents do happen, they usually occur at lower speeds, which means the consequences are less severe,” the institute noted.

“These lower speeds may be the result of lower speed limits and better enforcement, or of driver assistance systems that prevent cars from being involved in accidents or reduce their speed when they are.”

There was also a favourable trend among cyclists (from 86 to 79 deaths) and car occupants (from 198 to 191).

However, the number of deaths among people travelling by e-scooter rose sharply, from four deaths in 2024 to 13 deaths last year.

Vias emphasised that it remains necessary to continue to focus on measures that can bring about a structural reduction in the long term.

“Stricter penalties for people who drink too much or use their mobile phones while driving are already a good measure in this regard,” the institute said, adding that it hoped a targeted approach to repeat offenders "as provided for in the federal coalition agreement" will be implemented quickly.