India, July 23 -- Road traffic deaths worldwide declined by 21 per cent between 2011 and 2025 despite the addition of more than one billion vehicles to the world's roads, according to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 20, 2026.

However, the WHO South-East Asian Region that includes India recorded only a 2 per cent reduction in road fatalities, the agency said, highlighting the uneven progress. The region also consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

The WHO European Region recorded the largest decline, with fatalities falling by 36 per cent, followed by a 15 per cent reduction in the Western Pacific ...