In 2020, the cost of road accidents in Jordan decreased totalling JD296 million compared with JD324 million in 2019, according to the annual report issued by the Jordan Traffic Institute.

The report showed that road traffic severity during 2020 reduced to 0,107 per cent compared with 0,109 per cent in 2019. It also pointed to the lower number of deaths, which is around 461 compared with 643 fatalities in 2019, while there had been "a significant increase” in population and number of vehicles.

According to the report, vehicle ownership in the Kingdom increased from one vehicle for every 58 persons to one vehicle to every six persons. 

The number of traffic accidents per day decreased, accounting for 23.2 per cent in 2020 compared with 29.7 per cent for 2019, according to the report.

"Traffic accidents, the resulting casualties and deaths, and the accompanying social and economic implications, are among the main challenges facing all countries of the world,” the report said. 

An estimated 1.35 million people are killed in road accidents annually, while over 50 million people suffer from injuries that changed their lives or have had long-lasting effects, the report said. 

The annual increase in vehicle population reached 3.6 per cent for the past five years, and the number of casualties decreased by 5.5 per cent during the same period, the report added.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major role in imposing many restrictions on citizen movement, resulting in less traffic activity,” according to the report, which also showed that the number of registered vehicles in Jordan is 1729,343, in addition to the entry of 117,743 new vehicles.