The most dangerous European countries to drive across revealed

People travelling across Europe have been warned to take necessary safety precautions, as the latest data reveals the most fatal countries to drive through.

Car rental experts at StressFreeCarRental.com have crunched the numbers to reveal the most dangerous European countries to drive across.

The most dangerous country to drive in Europe is Romania, followed closely by other Eastern European countries like Bulgaria ranking second and Latvia fifth most dangerous.

The data reveals that Scandinavia is by far the safest area of Europe to travel to, with significantly low driving fatality rates in Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The UK and Ireland also rank amongst some of the safest European roads, at 26 and 31 fatalities per million people, respectively.

Two of the most popular destinations for Brits, Italy and Spain, both rank in the top 15 for highest driving fatalities, coming in at eight and thirteenth respectively.

Another country people are planning on jetting off to this summer, Greece, is statistically the sixth most dangerous country also, with 58 fatalities per million people.

Sweden is statistically the safest country to drive through, with 21 fatalities per million people, over four times as safe as Romania, which tops the ranks with 86 per million.

Malta has seen a sharp rise in driving fatalities over the course of just one year, with a 194% increase from 17 to 50 deaths per million.

John Charnock, CEO of StressFreeCarRental.com: “It has become an increasingly popular choice for Brits to opt for hiring cars when arriving in Europe with the freedom to drive anywhere and not have to rely on public transport in a foreign country.

“However, motorists need to be aware of the accident rates on the roads as they navigate unfamiliar routes abroad.

“Some of the most popular destinations – such as France, Italy and Greece, are all in the top 15 most dangerous roads, with Spain ranking slightly lower at 21. Nordic countries have a significantly lower fatality rate, all falling below 35 deaths per million people.

“Croatia is increasingly becoming more and more popular with Brits, and the country makes the third most dangerous for road fatalities – with 71 deaths per million people.

“Romania at the top of the list, and Bulgaria coming in at second, have both had a slight reduction in fatality numbers over the course of a year, but the rates are still high. Romania with 86 and Bulgaria with 78 fatalities per million people.

“This is dramatically different to the bottom end of the rankings – where Sweden statistically files as the safest country to drive through, with 21 deaths per million people.

“As a comparison, it’s positive to see the UK and Ireland near the end of the ranking also – in 27th and 25th position, respectively, despite both countries’ numbers increasing slightly from the year previous.

“The average across all 31 countries reaches a fatality rate of 45 per million people, so we urge all drivers to follow the rules of the road and to always drive with care and caution.

Rank	Country	Fatality rate per million people (2022)
1	Romania	86
2	Bulgaria	78
3	Croatia	71
4	Portugal	63
5	Latvia	60
6	Greece	58
7	Hungary	56
8	Italy	53
9	Belgium	52
10	Poland	51
11	Czechia	50
12	Malta	50
13	France	49
14	Slovakia	46
15	Lithuania	43
16	Cyprus	42
17	Austria	41
18	Luxembourg	40
19	Slovenia	40
20	Estonia	38
21	Spain	36
22	Netherlands	35
23	Germany	34
24	Finland	34
25	Ireland	31
26	Switzerland	31
27	UK	26
28	Denmark	26
29	Iceland	24
30	Norway	23
31	Sweden	21