Social cost of road crashes and injuries

Social costs measure the total cost of road crashes to the nation, including loss of life and life quality, loss of productivity, medical, legal, court and vehicle damage costs. Injury costs are classified into fatal, serious, and minor injuries as reported by crash investigators. Ministry of Transport updates the social cost of road crashes and injuries annually to allow comparison of the costs and benefits of any road safety actions in current dollars.

These updates provide estimates of average social costs that account for:

• any inflationary effects that affect different cost components
• any changes in the number of crashes by region, area, and severity
• any changes in the average number of injuries involved in a crash by region, area, and severity.

Social cost of road crashes and injuries reports

Last updated: 13 March 2026

Social cost of road crashes and injuries: 2025 update (2022–2024 data) [XLS, 740KB]

Social cost of road crashes and injuries: 2024 update (2021–2023 data) [XLS, 683KB]

Social cost of road crashes and injuries: 2023 update (2020–2022 data) [XLS, 61KB]

Social cost of road crashes and injuries: 2022 update (2019–2021 data) [XLS, 55KB]

The Social cost of road crashes and injuries - Methodology and user guide outlines the methodology used to estimate the average social costs and provides some guidance on using the estimates. It should be read in conjunction with the estimates provided.