Value of Statistical Life tools: Road Crash Cost Analysis based on VSL
July 30, 2025
The value of a statistical life (VSL) is a key input for cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in the context of road safety and for calculations of the socio-economic costs of road crashes. Road Crash Cost Analysis (this tool) estimates the Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) for different countries based on World Bank income classifications and presents the economic burden of road crashes for the country. Results include the total cost of road crash fatalities and serious injuries and a percentage of that nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Link to Publication: The Value of a Statistical Life in the Context of Road Safety: A New Value Transfer Approach
FormulasVSL for Low- and Middle- Income Country (LMIC): VSL = 0.404 × (Y / 5,726)1.2 VSL for High Income Country (HIC): VSL = 3.206 × (Y / 42,087)0.8 Where VSL is in million US$ and Y is the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (US$, 2020 prices).
Inflation Adjustment: VSL in year i = VSL in i-1 × (1+R) Example for 2020 to 2021: VSL in year 2021 = VSL in 2020 × (1+R) where R is the inflation rate from i-1 to i (e.g., from 2020 to 2021). The Value of a Statistical Injury (VSI): VSI = VSL × the percentage of VSI to VSL where the percentage of VSI to VSL is 25% The number of Serious Injuries is calculated as 15 times of the number of fatalities. |