Japan Traffic Deaths Hit Record Low in 2025

Tokyo, Jan. 6 (Jiji Press)–Traffic accident deaths in Japan fell to a record low in 2025, dropping 116, or 4.4 pct, from the previous year to 2,547, the National Police Agency said Tuesday. The figure is the lowest since records began in 1948, but it fell short of the government’s target of cutting fatalities to 2,000 or fewer by 2025. The agency said it will conduct a detailed analysis of the results and reflect the findings in future safety measures. By prefecture, Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, recorded the highest number of traffic deaths, at 139, followed by Tokyo with 134 and the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido with 129. The lowest totals were in the western prefectures of Shimane and Tottori, with 17 deaths each. Fatalities among people aged 65 and older fell by 90 from the previous year, but still totaled 1,423, accounting for 55.9 pct of all traffic deaths. Japan’s traffic deaths peaked in 1970 at 16,765. In recent years, the annual total hovered in the 2,600 range from 2021 through 2024. The number of injury accidents, based on preliminary data, declined by 3,659 to 287,236, while the number of the injured fell by 6,101 to 338,294. Both figures were the lowest in the past 50 years. “The decline reflected active efforts to prevent accidents, but the target was not achieved,” National Public Safety Commission Chairman Jiro Akama said. Akama added that the commission will direct police “to step up bicycle traffic safety education and crack down more aggressively on serious violations such as drunk driving.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]