Share of Road Traffic Deaths Attributed to Alcohol by Country: WHO 2017 Ranking
Share of Road Traffic Deaths Attributed to Alcohol by Country
This ranking compares countries by the percentage of road traffic deaths that the World Health Organization attributes to alcohol consumption above the national legal limit. The measure is WHO Global Health Observatory indicator RS_208, and countries are ranked from the highest share to the lowest.
The available series has a 2017 time dimension. This page is therefore a 2026 snapshot of the latest published WHO series, not a ranking of road deaths occurring in 2025 or 2026. WHO describes the indicator as an estimate of the proportion of annual road traffic fatalities attributable to alcohol above the legal limit.
The current series provides numerical values for 88 countries. This ranking shows the 50 highest values. All 50 entries are historical values published by WHO; there are no forecast or modeled-projection rows.
The table is a compiled research dataset based on 3 sources, with row-level source and method notes shown in the ranking table. WHO Global Health Observatory provides the ranking values and indicator definition, Our World in Data is used to verify the current published series and update date, and WHO country information is used for regional grouping.
Micronesia (Federated States of) has the highest value in the published series.
Tonga ranks second, followed by Vanuatu at 67.0%.
Ecuador occupies row 50. Honduras also has 6.8% and falls just outside the table under the alphabetical tie-break.
The table shows the 50 highest values among 88 countries with numerical observations.
Percentage of road traffic deaths attributed to alcohol above the national legal limit.
50 historical WHO estimates, 0 forecasts and 0 modeled projections.
Overview: What the Indicator Measures
The percentage describes how road deaths are distributed by alcohol involvement. A value of 30% means that WHO attributes roughly three in ten road traffic fatalities represented by the indicator to alcohol consumption above the country's legal limit.
It is not a measure of how many drivers drink alcohol, how often people drive after drinking or how many crashes occur in total. It also differs from the road traffic death rate, which measures deaths relative to population.
Alcohol-attributed fatalities include road users beyond drivers. The underlying definition covers road traffic deaths and can therefore include vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists. This matters when interpreting the ranking: the measure concerns fatal outcomes associated with alcohol, not simply the behavior of motorists.
Comparability also requires caution. National legal alcohol limits are not identical, and countries differ in testing coverage, crash investigation, reporting systems and the way alcohol involvement is established. Large differences are easier to interpret than small differences between neighboring ranks.
Top 10 Countries by Alcohol-Attributed Share of Road Traffic Deaths
The highest values are concentrated in a small group of countries. Micronesia (Federated States of), Tonga and Vanuatu occupy the first three positions, while the percentage falls from 56.0% in sixth place to 38.5% in seventh.
Top 10 values in the WHO 2017 series
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Micronesia (Federated States of) | 100.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 2 | Tonga | 77.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 3 | Vanuatu | 67.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 4 | Lesotho | 60.0% | African Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 5 | South Africa | 57.5% | African Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea | 56.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 7 | Ireland | 38.5% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 8 | Cuba | 33.3% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 9 | Slovenia | 32.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 10 | Costa Rica | 31.2% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
The ranking uses the published percentage rather than a rounded reconstruction. Countries with equal percentages are ordered alphabetically.
Top 20 Alcohol-Attributed Shares of Road Traffic Deaths
The chart shows how quickly the percentage falls below the first six countries. The first six values range from 56.0% to 100.0%, while every country from seventh place onward is below 40%.
Methodology
Metric and unit
The metric is WHO Global Health Observatory indicator RS_208, covering the share of road traffic deaths attributed to alcohol above the national legal limit. The unit is percent.
Data year
The current published series has a 2017 time dimension. The 2026 date describes the research snapshot and source update, not the year in which the ranked road deaths occurred.
Coverage
Numerical values are available for 88 countries in the current series. The 50 highest values are included. Countries without a numerical observation are excluded rather than treated as zero.
Ranking and ties
Countries are sorted by percentage from highest to lowest. Equal values are listed alphabetically. This affects row order only and does not imply a measurable difference between tied countries.
Value status
All entries are historical WHO estimates published through the Global Health Observatory. None of the ranked values is a forecast or modeled projection.
Formula
Conceptually, the indicator represents alcohol-attributed road traffic fatalities divided by total road traffic fatalities, multiplied by 100. StatRanker does not reconstruct that calculation and uses the percentage published by WHO.
Source hierarchy
WHO Global Health Observatory is the primary source for the indicator definition and every numerical value in the ranking. Our World in Data is used to verify the current presentation, coverage and update metadata. WHO country information supports the regional classifications.
Assumptions and conflicts
Published percentages are used without interpolation, extrapolation or adjustment. Secondary values are not averaged with WHO values. Where another source conflicts with the WHO series, the WHO value controls the ranking.
Missing values: absence of a published percentage does not mean that alcohol was involved in zero road deaths. It means the country is not assigned a numerical observation in this series.
Underlying evidence: WHO assembled road-safety information from national sectors and stakeholders and used validation procedures to resolve reported data conflicts. National inputs can come from different reporting systems and reference periods, so the series should not be read as a perfectly uniform crash-year dataset for every country.
Rounding: values are displayed to one decimal place. Ranking uses the published numerical value. No projection is applied; all ranks are based on the published 2017 values.
Limitations: legal alcohol thresholds differ between countries, as do testing rates, crash investigations and reporting practices. The indicator does not measure total road deaths, road deaths per 100,000 people, alcohol consumption, drink-driving prevalence or enforcement effectiveness.
Top 50 Countries by Share of Road Traffic Deaths Attributed to Alcohol
WHO 2017 values, ranked from highest to lowest
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Micronesia (Federated States of) | 100.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 2 | Tonga | 77.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 3 | Vanuatu | 67.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 4 | Lesotho | 60.0% | African Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 5 | South Africa | 57.5% | African Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea | 56.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 7 | Ireland | 38.5% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 8 | Cuba | 33.3% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 9 | Slovenia | 32.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 10 | Costa Rica | 31.2% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 11 | Canada | 29.6% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 12 | Portugal | 29.2% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 13 | France | 29.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 14 | United States | 29.0% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 15 | New Zealand | 27.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 16 | Greece | 25.3% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 17 | Mongolia | 25.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 18 | Finland | 24.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 19 | Sweden | 24.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 20 | Croatia | 23.8% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 21 | Mauritius | 23.6% | African Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 22 | Russian Federation | 22.9% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 23 | Myanmar | 21.4% | South-East Asia Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 24 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 20.8% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 25 | Mexico | 19.5% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 26 | Cyprus | 17.4% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 27 | Argentina | 17.0% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 28 | Australia | 17.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 29 | Guyana | 17.0% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 30 | Serbia | 17.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 31 | Azerbaijan | 15.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 32 | Thailand | 14.1% | South-East Asia Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 33 | Iceland | 14.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 34 | Luxembourg | 14.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 35 | Cambodia | 13.0% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 36 | Chile | 13.0% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 37 | Norway | 13.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 38 | Switzerland | 13.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 39 | Poland | 12.7% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 40 | Republic of Korea | 11.2% | Western Pacific Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 41 | Latvia | 10.8% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 42 | Estonia | 10.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 43 | Lithuania | 9.6% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 44 | Czechia | 9.5% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 45 | Republic of Moldova | 9.4% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 46 | Peru | 9.3% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 47 | Georgia | 9.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 48 | Hungary | 7.1% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 49 | Germany | 7.0% | European Region · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017. |
| 50 | Ecuador | 6.8% | Region of the Americas · WHO GHO · historical WHO estimate · 2017 · tied with Honduras; alphabetical cutoff applied. |
Honduras also has a published value of 6.8%. Because the page is limited to exactly 50 entries, equal-value countries are ordered alphabetically and Ecuador occupies the final row.
Key Patterns in the Ranking
Key Insight
The top of the ranking is unusually steep. Micronesia stands at 100.0%, Tonga at 77.0% and Vanuatu at 67.0%. By seventh place, the value has fallen below 40%.
Notable Pattern
The median value within the Top 50 is 18.45%. The midpoint lies between Mexico at 19.5% and Cyprus at 17.4%, showing how strongly the very highest values sit above the middle of the table.
Regional Concentration
The WHO European Region accounts for 26 of the 50 entries, compared with 10 from the Region of the Americas, 9 from the Western Pacific Region, 3 from the African Region and 2 from South-East Asia.
Top-Rank Concentration
Four of the first six countries are in the Western Pacific Region: Micronesia, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Lesotho and South Africa account for the other two positions in that group.
What the Ranking Means
A higher percentage means alcohol accounts for a larger estimated share of road traffic fatalities represented by the WHO indicator. It does not necessarily mean the country has a larger number of road deaths.
This distinction is important when comparing countries of very different population sizes. A smaller country can rank near the top because alcohol is attributed to a high proportion of its road fatalities even if its absolute number of deaths is far below that of a much larger country.
The ranking also should not be used as a direct measure of drink-driving prevalence. The percentage concerns fatal road outcomes attributed to alcohol, whereas prevalence would require information on how frequently drivers operate vehicles after consuming alcohol.
For a broader view of road safety, this indicator is best read alongside road traffic mortality rates, total road deaths, vehicle exposure and enforcement measures. Those indicators answer different questions and can produce very different country rankings.
FAQ
Which country has the highest share of road deaths attributed to alcohol?
Micronesia (Federated States of) ranks first with a published WHO value of 100.0%. Tonga is second at 77.0%, followed by Vanuatu at 67.0%.
What does “road traffic deaths attributed to alcohol” mean?
It is the estimated percentage of annual road traffic fatalities attributed to alcohol consumption above the national legal limit.
What year are the data from?
The current published series has a 2017 time dimension. The page is a 2026 snapshot of that available WHO series and does not present the percentages as 2025 or 2026 crash data.
Is this the same as the road traffic death rate?
No. A road traffic death rate usually expresses fatalities per 100,000 people. This ranking measures the percentage of road traffic fatalities attributed to alcohol.
Why are some countries missing?
The WHO series does not provide a numerical observation for every country. Missing values are excluded rather than interpreted as zero.
Can countries with similar percentages be compared precisely?
Small differences should be treated cautiously because national legal limits, alcohol testing, crash investigation and reporting practices differ. Countries with exactly equal values are ordered alphabetically in this table.
Does a higher percentage mean a country has more road deaths?
No. The metric measures a share of fatalities, not the total number of fatalities. A country with fewer road deaths overall can still have a higher alcohol-attributed percentage.
Sources
World Health Organization — Global Health Observatory
Primary source for indicator RS_208, its definition, estimation method and the numerical country values used for the ranking.
Our World in Data — Share of Road Traffic Deaths Attributed to Alcohol
Used to verify the current WHO-derived country series, 2017 date range, numerical coverage and May 2026 source update.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/road-traffic-deaths-to-alcohol
World Health Organization — Countries and Regions
Used for WHO regional grouping applied to the ranking table and regional analysis.
