Road accidents represent not only a serious health issue in Albania, but also an economic one. A report from the World Bank shows that the country has one of the highest mortality rates from road accidents in Europe, an average of 84.7 deaths per 100 000 vehicles.
The reports suggests this figure is at least two times higher as the neighboring countries, whose mortality rate varies from 13.8 per 100 000 vehicles in Greece to 41.3 per 100 000 vehicles in Montenegro. Compared to developed western countries, the Albanian mortality rate is ten times higher.
On top of the lost lives, these accidents put also a burden on the economy. The World Bank suggests the economic cost is on average 130 million euro per year, or almost 1.5% of the country’s GDP. Last year the World Bank and the Albanian government started last year a joint 128.5 million euro project in order to improve road safety in the country, with the objective to decrease the number of rad accidents at 250 deaths per year, from 295 deaths per year in 2013.
Official data from Statistic Institution show that during 2012-2014, the number of deaths from rad accidents decreased by 20% but last year, when the project started, figures overturned and the number of people who died on car accidents increased by 2.2%.
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