Mozambique: More than 2,500 persons were killed in road accidents last year

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Mozambique: More than 2,500 persons were killed in road accidents last year

7:40 CAT | 10 Sep 2021

Photo: O País

Figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) report entitled “Traffic Accident Statistics 2020” indicate that at least 2,504 people died in car accidents in Mozambique last year (2020) – an increase over 2019, in which 2,078 deaths were registered.

The 35-page document contains relevant and sometimes worrying information. The National Institute of Statistics report takes an X-ray of the years 2015 to 2020, detailing traffic accidents, national road conditions, as well as the growth of the car fleet.

Let’s start with deaths caused by car accidents. The INE brochure indicates a total of 2,504 deaths caused by road accidents last year, an increasing trend compared to 2,078 deaths in 2019, a year in which an improvement was registered , since the preceding year, 2018, was deadlier still, with 3,825 registered deaths.

Zambézia province leads the ratio of deaths from road accidents, with 571 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (2020 data) – a decline when compared to 2019, when 804 out of 100,000 residents died.

After Zambézia, Nampula comes next in terms of people who lost their lives as a result of road accidents. Last year, out of a total of 100,000 inhabitants, 536 died on national roads, a growing trend when compared to the ratio of 444 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019.

Tete and Manica have the fewest deaths from road accidents. In the past, they had the ratio of 222 and 260 victims per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively. An increase for Tete when compared to 2019, with 197 deaths, and a reduction for Manica with 272 deathsper 100,000.

In addition to the increase in the ratio of deaths from road accidents, the types of injuries are also interrogated. For example, per 100,000 inhabitants, 266 were seriously injured in road accidents last year, a decreasing compared to 2019, when the ratio was 271 per 100,000 residents.

Minor injuries as a result of road accidents are also decreasing, with a ratio of 333 injured persons per 100,000 inhabitants in 2020, against 392 slightly injured in 2019.

The car fleet in Mozambique grew 68.3% from 2015 to 2020, from 661,355 vehicles to 1,112,855 respectively. In other words, in five years, there were 451,500 more vehicles circulating in the country. Years 2019 and 2020 topped the log for number of vehicles bought – 277,248.

In the last two years, the most of the vehicles purchased were ‘light’, contributing to a 36.6 percent growth in the car fleet. In this period, tractors contributed the least, with purchases below 10,000, an increase of only 3.1 percent.

In detail, last year, the data indicate the existence of 764,742 light vehicles in the country, 202,720 more than in 2019, when there were 562,022 light vehicles. Heavy vehicles numbered 224,543 last year, 63,194 more than in 2019, when there were only 161,349 vehicles in this category.

The city and the province of Maputo contributed most to the growth of the car fleet, which now stands at just over one million vehicles nationwide.

Of this total, the city of Maputo has 46.5% of all light vehicles – 517,000 – and 37% of the heavy vehicles (around 412,000). Maputo province, in turn, counts for 39% of light vehicles, that is, just over 430,000, while heavy vehicles count for 37.7% – just over 419,000.

Zambézia province has a smaller number of cars, with only 0.1% of the national total of light vehicles, which means that there are just over 1,000 light vehicles in the province, and 0.7% of heavy vehicles – just over 7,000.

Niassa province joins the list of the areas in the country with the fewest vehicles, with 0.5% of light vehicles (more than 5,000) and 1.2% of all heavy vehicles (more than 16,000).

As regards roads, the provinces of Zambézia, Niassa and Nampula have the greatest extension, with more than 3,000 km of roads, while Maputo has the smallest extension, and the lowest proportion paved.

By Dario Cossa

Source: O País