Accounts made by ISEG show that, in 2019, road accidents cost the country €6.4 billion to society - the equivalent of 69% of state spending on health that year.
Road fatalities cost the country and Portuguese society €6.4 billion in 2019 - more than 3% of the country's GDP and the equivalent of 69% of state spending on health care that year. The accounts were made by the Institute of Economics and Management of the University of Lisbon (ISEG) for the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), and are part of an important report released recently. The vast majority of fatalities and injuries are the result of accidents that occurred on urban roads.
Road accidents recorded in Portugal in 2019 had an estimated economic and social cost for the country of €6 422.9 million, representing 3.03% of the wealth created in the country that year. Of this total cost, the largest share (83.5% of the total) is related to accidents with victims, totaling €5 362.7 million (2.53% of GDP), respecting the remaining €1 060.1 million (0.5% of GDP) to accidents without victims and that generated only property damage. These are some of the main conclusions drawn from the study on The Economic and Social Impact of Road Fatalities in Portugaldeveloped by the Center for Management Studies at ISEG, and which was presented by ANSR last week.
Traffic accidents recorded in Portugal in 2019 had an estimated economic and social cost for the country of €6 422.9 million, a figure that represents 3.03% of the wealth created in the country that year. Of this total cost, the largest share (83.5% of the total) is related to accidents with victims, totaling 5,362.7 million euros (2.53% of GDP), respecting the remaining 1,060.1 million euros (0.5% of GDP) to accidents without victims that generated only property damage.
- report The Economic and Social Impact of Road Fatalities in Portugal (ISEG/ANSR), October 2021
Among casualty accidents, the largest component of the total cost, representing 64.7% of that amount, relates to human costs, estimated at €3 471.1 million (1.635% of GDP). The second most significant component (representing 26.8% of the total) relates to gross production loss, estimated at €1 438 million (0.677% of GDP) in 2019. Together, human costs and gross production loss account for 91.5% of the total cost of road claims in Portugal.
Property damage caused by road accidents with victims is estimated at €263.9 million (0.124% of GDP). Costs for medical treatment of road accident victims are estimated at EUR 84.6 million (0.04% of GDP), while administrative costs are quantified at EUR 78.5 million (0.037% of GDP). Other costs amount to EUR 26.6 million (0.013% of GDP). If we also consider only accidents with property damage without victims, the damage to property resulting from road accidents with and without victims is estimated at EUR 1,324.1 million (0.62% of GDP).
Despite these figures, the last 25 years have seen a significant reduction in the economic and social cost of road accidents with victims in Portugal, from an annual value that reached over 7% of GDP to a value that has stabilized in recent years around 2.5% of GDP at current 2019 prices. The main contribution to the annual reduction in the economic and social cost of road accidents was made by the significant gains recorded in the reduction in the number of victims with a higher degree of severity, highlighting in particular the 70% reduction in the number of fatalities in this period and the 80.7% decrease in the number of serious injuries.
The study now released is, according to ANSR, a key tool for evaluating the impact of public road safety policies and investment in road safety, particularly in safer infrastructure. Between 1995 and 2019, Portugal invested about 33,682 million in road infrastructure having in the same period avoided 174,810 million euros in economic and social costs, a figure that corresponds to about 82.3% of the wealth created in Portugal in 2019, and which is more than five times the amount invested. Also during this period, the loss of 24,140 lives, 170,456 serious injuries, and 211,615 minor injuries were avoided.
Other findings of the study:
- Human costs are higher among male victims (drivers, passengers, pedestrians).
- Costs pertaining to minor injuries represent the largest share of the economic and social cost of casualty accidents recorded in Portugal in 2019, totaling €2,249.9 million (1.06% of GDP).
- The average economic and social cost of a fatal road accident victim is estimated at €3.06 million per fatality.
- The average cost to society of a seriously injured person is estimated at 530,828 euros per victim.
- Hit-and-run accidents are the type of accident with the highest average economic and social cost among the different categories, with an estimated 161,737 euros per accident.
- Casualty accidents involving agricultural vehicles are by far the most costly to society, estimated at 466,998 euros per accident.
- Accidents on poorly maintained roads have an estimated cost of 186,477 euros per accident with victims.
- The cost of accidents to society is higher on Sundays and in August.
- Beja is the district where road accidents with victims have the highest economic and social cost, with an estimated 379,098 euros for each accident with victims.
