Annual road toll historical information

Information on this page includes historical annual road toll statistics dating back as far as the Ministry of Transport has records available to 2011.

The Minister of Transport has issued two media statements on the 2011 road toll and the Christmas/New Year holiday road toll available on the beehive website.

Christmas/New Year holiday period 2011/12

Historical deaths since 1921

Year	Number of road deaths	Year	Number of road deaths	Year	Number of road deaths
1921	69	1951	292	1981	669
1922	61	1952	272	1982	673
1923	59	1953	313	1983	644
1924	94	1954	360	1984	669
1925	103	1955	333	1985	747
1926	149	1956	329	1986	766
1927	138	1957	384	1987	795
1928	176	1958	379	1988	727
1929	178	1959	349	1989	755
1930	246	1960	374	1990	729
1931	170	1961	393	1991	650
1932	168	1962	398	1992	646
1933	132	1963	394	1993	600
1934	169	1964	428	1994	580
1935	190	1965	559	1995	582
1936	203	1966	549	1996	514
1937	213	1967	570	1997	539
1938	243	1968	522	1998	501
1939	246	1969	570	1999	509
1940	205	1970	655	2000	462
1941	174	1971	677	2001	455
1942	164	1972	713	2002	405
1943	152	1973	843	2003	461
1944	142	1974	676	2004	435
1945	128	1975	628	2005	405
1946	191	1976	609	2006	393
1947	206	1977	702	2007	421
1948	196	1978	654	2008	366
1949	218	1979	554	2009	384
1950	232	1980	599	2010	375

* Provisional road toll for 2011 is 284.

Road deaths and reported injury casualties 1980 to 2011 

Year	Population (000)	Vehicles (000)	Road deaths
			No. of fatalities	Per 100,000 population	Per 10,000 vehicles	No. of injuries	Per 100,000 population	Per 10,000 vehicles
1980	3176.4	1789.4	599	18.9	3.3	15872	500	88.7
1981	3194.5	1848.6	669	20.9	3.6	15479	485	83.7
1982	3226.8	1882.5	673	20.9	3.6	16194	502	86.0
1983	3264.8	1917.4	644	19.7	3.4	16491	505	86.0
1984	3293.0	1968.9	669	20.3	3.4	17524	532	89.0
1985	3303.1	1996.1	747	22.6	3.7	18912	573	94.7
1986	3313.5	2010.1	766	23.1	3.8	18874	570	93.9
1987	3342.1	2030.6	795	23.8	3.9	18728	560	92.2
1988	3345.2	2045.4	727	21.7	3.6	17346	519	84.8
1989	3369.8	2108.4	755	22.4	3.6	16594	492	78.7
1990	3410.4	2197.7	729	21.4	3.3	17719	520	80.6
1991	3449.7	2220.1	650	18.8	2.9	16767	486	75.5
1992	3485.4	2227.1	646	18.5	2.9	16121	463	72.4
1993	3524.8	2243.8	600	17.0	2.7	15108	429	67.3
1994	3577.2	2289.3	580	16.2	2.5	16600	464	72.5
1995	3643.2	2354.6	582	16.0	2.5	16870	463	71.6
1996	3717.4	2379.8	514	13.8	2.2	14796	398	62.2
1997	3761.1	2392.7	539	14.3	2.3	13375	356	55.9
1998	3790.9	2440.4	501	13.2	2.1	12412	327	50.9
1999	3810.7	2512.3	509	13.4	2.0	11999	315	47.8
2000	3830.8	2601.7	462	12.1	1.8	10962	286	42.1
2001	3850.1	2633.2	455	11.8	1.7	12368	321	47.0
2002	3939.1	2709.5	405	10.3	1.5	13918	353	51.4
2003	4009.2	2801.0	461	11.5	1.6	14372	359	51.3
2004	4060.9	2920.7	435	10.7	1.5	13890	342	47.6
2005	4098.3	3030.4	405	9.9	1.3	14451	353	47.7
2006	4139.5	3124.3	393	9.5	1.3	15174	367	48.6
2007	4228.3	3189.1	421	10.0	1.3	16013	379	50.2
2008	4268.6	3247.8	366	8.6	1.1	15174	356	46.7
2009	4315.8	3220.3	384	8.9	1.2	14541	337	45.2
2010	4367.8	3230.6	375	8.6	1.2	14031	321	43.4
2011*	4405.3	3233.6	284	6.4	0.9

* 2011 provisional statistics.

Download full table for deaths and injuries 1921 – 2010 (PDF, 102kb). This table also includes population and vehicle figures.

Time series graphs – road deaths

The following graphs show the number of road deaths since 1921 and road deaths per 10,000 vehicles and per 100,000 population.

Deaths per 10,000 vehicles has steadily decreased since 1936, Deaths per 100,000 steadily rose from 1936 till about 1975, when it has since been steadily decreasing, mirroring the trend for the overall number of road deaths.

Lowest and highest road deaths figures

The following tables show the lowest and highest number of road deaths. Population and vehicle data prior to 1936 was very scant.

Lowest number of road deaths since 1950

Rank	Year	Number of road deaths	Population (000)	Vehicles (000)	Per 100,000 population	Per 10,000 vehicles
1	1950	232	1927.6	402.2	12	5.8
2	1952	272	2024.6	494.2	13.4	5.5
3	2011*	284	4405.3	3233.6	6.4	0.9
4	1951	292	1970.5	447.1	14.8	6.5
5	1953	313	2074.7	513.7	15.1	6.1
6	1956	329	2209.2	638.3	14.9	5.2
7	1955	333	2164.8	301.1	15.4	5.5
8	1959	349	2359.7	728.2	14.8	4.8
9	1954	360	2118.4	553.5	17	6.5
10	2008	366	4268.6	3247.8	8.6	1.1

* 2011 provisional statistics.

Highest number of road deaths since 1950

Rank	Year	Number of road deaths	Population (000)	Vehicles (000)	Per 100,000 population	Per 10,000 vehicles
1	1973	843	3024.9	1438.8	27.9	5.9
2	1987	795	3342.1	2030.6	23.8	3.9
3	1986	766	3313.5	2010.1	23.1	3.8
4	1989	755	3369.8	2108.4	22.4	3.6
5	1985	747	3303.1	1996.1	22.6	3.7
6	1990	729	3410.4	2197.7	21.4	3.3
7	1988	727	3345.2	2045.4	21.7	3.6
8	1972	713	2959.7	1349.1	24.1	5.3
9	1977	702	3166.4	1642.8	22.2	4.3
10	1971	677	2898.5	1272.4	23.4	5.3

Annual road deaths decreases since 1921

The following tables show the greatest decreases in road deaths from the prior year since 1921, in terms of number decreases and percent change.

Road deaths decreased by greatest number margins since 1921

Greatest decrease by NUMBER
Rank	Year	Number of road deaths	Following year	Number of road deaths	Difference from prior year	% diff from prior year
1	1973	843	1974	676	-167	-19.8%
2	1978	654	1979	554	-100	-15.3%
3	2010	375	2011	284	-91	-24.3%
4	1990	729	1991	650	-79	-10.8%
5	1930	246	1931	170	-76	-30.9%
6	1987	795	1988	727	-68	-8.6%
7	1995	582	1996	514	-68	-11.7%
8	2007	421	2008	366	-55	-13.1%
9	2001	455	2002	405	-50	-11.0%
10	1967	570	1968	522	-48	-8.4%

Road deaths decreased by greatest percent change margin since 1921

Greatest decrease by PERCENT CHANGE
Rank	Year	Number of road deaths	Following year	Number of road deaths	Difference from prior year	% diff from prior year
1	1930	246	1931	170	-76	-30.9%
2	2010	375	2011	284	-91	-24.3%
3	1932	168	1933	132	-36	-21.4%
4	1973	843	1974	676	-167	-19.8%
5	1939	246	1940	205	-41	-16.7%
6	1978	654	1979	554	-100	-15.3%
7	1940	205	1941	174	-31	-15.1%
8	2007	421	2008	366	-55	-13.1%
9	1995	582	1996	514	-68	-11.7%
10	1921	69	1922	61	-8	-11.6%

Age groups - road deaths

The following table gives the number killed in each age group. The total killed includes unknown aged fatalities.

Year	0-14 years	15-24 years	25-39 years	40-59 years	60+ years	TOTAL
1990	53	302	192	91	89	730
1991	53	232	168	98	89	651
1992	52	238	152	88	105	646
1993	39	219	129	93	89	600
1994	45	163	167	116	85	580
1995	51	188	162	110	68	582
1996	46	175	130	78	81	514
1997	45	146	141	101	106	539
1998	46	143	131	89	89	501
1999	29	132	131	99	115	509
2000	41	112	119	101	88	462
2001	33	125	97	105	88	455
2002	31	101	102	88	76	405
2003	27	129	126	89	84	461
2004	25	137	84	106	75	435
2005	31	133	68	102	70	405
2006	25	103	78	96	91	393
2007	27	132	98	87	77	421
2008	23	118	82	74	68	366
2009	22	105	90	89	78	384
2010	18	113	76	83	85	375
2011*	11	82	47	81	63	284

*2011 provisional statistics.

Over the long term the biggest improvement has been in the number of deaths in the 15-24 age group which has more than halved since 1990 (see graph below). This decrease has been partly due to a decrease in the number of motorcyclist deaths in this age group.

Types of road users killed

The most dramatic change in the longer term has been the drop in motorcycle deaths since 1989. The number of motorcyclists killed per year dropped from a peak of 150 down to about 30. In 1988 20 percent of the deaths on New Zealand roads were motorcyclists. This dropped to a low of about 7 percent of the total road toll. However in the last several years there has been a marked increase in the number of motorcyclists killed and injured on our roads.

Note: Statistics for specific road user groups are not available for years prior to 1951.

Year	Drivers	Passengers	Motorcyclists	Cyclists	Pedestrians	Other	Total
Highest:	307 (1987)	250 (1973)	146 (1988)	41 (1957)	157 (1973)	-	-
Lowest:	49 (1952)	62 (1952)	28 (2003)	6 (2003)	31 (2009)
1990	277	206	114	27	105	1	730
1991	278	183	79	22	88	1	651
1992	286	179	88	17	76	0	646
1993	259	167	80	17	74	3	600
1994	272	166	72	15	54	1	580
1995	249	168	78	15	71	1	582
1996	238	151	48	13	63	1	514
1997	252	165	56	12	54	0	539
1998	221	139	54	16	71	0	501
1999	254	141	42	8	64	0	509
2000	244	132	30	19	35	2	462
2001	234	125	34	10	52	0	455
2002	220	96	30	14	45	0	405
2003	235	133	28	6	58	1	461
2004	221	133	35	7	38	1	435
2005	202	123	37	12	31	0	405
2006	192	107	38	9	44	3	393
2007	203	119	41	12	45	2	421
2008	163	104	51	10	31	7	366
2009	192	103	48	8	31	2	384
2010	180	98	50	10	35	2	375
2011*	149	62	33	9	31	0	284

*2011 provisional statistics.

Local government region road toll

More information about Regions/local bodies

• Local Body boundary changes mean that records have been kept from 1980 onwards. In November 2010, the Auckland Super City was established. The figures have been altered for Auckland and other regions to allow for this development.

• For some regions, due to small numbers, changes from year to year may not be significant.

Region	Lowest total	Highest total	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011*
Northland	22 2010	53 1989	30	30	29	35	22	7
Auckland	52 2008	216 1987	81	55	52	69	53	51
Waikato	65 2002	129 1989	68	93	75	75	65	65
Bay of Plenty	23 2005	78 1980	36	35	29	28	39	19
Gisborne/Hawke's Bay	18 2002	55 1990	29	35	22	24	25	17
Taranaki	7 2008	45 1991	12	10	7	17	11	9
Manawatu/Wanganui	28 2002	81 1987	31	41	31	38	41	28
Wellington	10 2010	73 1987	32	15	22	20	10	13
Nelson/Marlborough	8 2005	27 1982	10	10	10	14	24	10
West Coast	3 1996	18 2001	4	6	8	6	7	9
Canterbury	32 2000	82 1986	36	56	48	32	48	34
Otago	11 2002	46 1988	14	24	21	11	18	15
Southland	6 2005	25 1982	10	11	12	16	12	7
New Zealand			393	421	366	385	375	284

*2011 provisional statistics.

View full local government region annual road toll tables for 1980–2010 (PDF, 419kb)

(Note: 1980 is as far back as regional records are available)

Useful information

• Crash fact sheets on a range of topics.
• Road crash reports
• Road safety surveys
• For information on the government’s future direction for transport safety see the Safer Journeys webpage.