With more than 34,000 fatalities recorded in 2023 alone—most of them motorcyclists—Brazil is seeing a reversal of earlier progress in reducing road traffic deaths. A new GRSF-funded report, The Burden of Road Traffic Injuries in Brazil: Evidence for Policy, highlights the alarming scale of road safety challenges facing the country. The report estimates that road traffic injuries caused 2.34 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2021–22, with men accounting for over 80 percent of the health burden. Alarmingly, motorcyclists contributed to more than half of these losses.

Beyond the human toll, the study calculates that crashes cost Brazil US$61.3 billion annually, equivalent to 3.8 percent of GDP—twice the country’s average yearly infrastructure investment. Over half of this cost stems from intangible human losses, while production losses and medical expenses represent significant additional burdens.

The report underscores systemic issues, including gaps in traffic death data—22 percent of fatalities go unclassified by road user type—and insufficient protection for vulnerable road users. Findings from hospital surveys further reveal that 25 percent of motorcyclists were not wearing helmets and nearly half of car occupants were not using seat belts at the time of their crash.

To confront these challenges, the report outlines four urgent priorities: establishing a national road safety lead agency, shifting toward safer road design, improving data systems for evidence-based policymaking, and reducing exposure by expanding public transport and safer travel modes.

As Brazil continues to urbanize and rely heavily on roads for freight and mobility, these findings call for strong political commitment and coordinated action to save lives and safeguard economic development.