The ATO road safety profiles offer insights into the road safety in 28 Asia-Pacific countries by utilizing road safety related data from various sources and policy information extracted from a range of documents.

The profiles were created by the Asian Transport Observatory —in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO), and the International Road Federation (IRF)— as an input to global discussions on road safety, in time for the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech, Morocco.

Road safety in Uzbekistan presents a complex picture, with some positive trends alongside significant challenges. While the country has made strides in certain areas, the number of road crash fatalities remains a pressing concern. In 2021, it was estimated about 3 thousand fatalities in Uzbekistan due to road crashes, accounting for 1.9% of all deaths. This narrative will explore the current status of road safety in Uzbekistan, examining data discrepancies, economic costs, and the policy landscape while benchmarking its performance against regional averages.

A significant challenge in assessing Uzbekistan's road safety situation is the discrepancy between reported data. While the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated approximately 3,000 fatalities in 2021, GBD report different figure (4 thousand). This inconsistency hinders accurate analysis and effective policymaking.

Despite data discrepancies, available disaggregated data provides valuable insights. The share of female fatalities decreased slightly, while the combined share of minors (<14 years old) and seniors (>65 years old) in road crash deaths also saw a slight decline. Notably, the reported share of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in Uzbekistan was 0% in 2021, a figure that contrasts sharply with the Asia-Pacific average of 31% for pedestrians and 22% for bicyclists. The share of fatalities by road user in 2021 was not reported, warranting further investigation into vulnerable road users.

The economic burden of road crashes in Uzbekistan is substantial. Fatalities and serious injuries cost an estimated 2 billion USD in 2021, roughly 3% of the country's GDP. This figure represents a significant portion of the nation's resources, comparable to a substantial share of healthcare expenditure.

Road crashes also constitute a considerable proportion (72%) of the implicit costs associated with fossil fuel subsidies in transport. The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) suggests an annual investment of 469 million USD (0.7% of GDP) could save around 1,000 lives annually.

Uzbekistan had about 18 fatalities per thousand kilometers of road. Data on infrastructure safety ratings in Uzbekistan is limited, making it difficult to assess the safety standards of the road infrastructure.

The distribution of vehicle types and motorization rate is not available for Uzbekistan and requires further investigation to understand its impact on road safety dynamics.

Benchmarking Uzbekistan's road safety performance against regional averages reveals areas for improvement. While the country's fatality rate is below the regional average, the pace of improvement lags behind. The road traffic crash fatality rate in Uzbekistan for 2021 was 9.3 per 100,000 population. While this is lower than the Asia-Pacific average of 15.2 and the Central and West Asia average of 13.1, it still represents a significant loss of life. Between 2010 and 2021, Uzbekistan saw a modest 11% decrease in this rate, compared to a 19% improvement in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Urgent action needed to reduce road fatalities The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 aims to cut road fatalities in half by 2030. An annual reduction of at least 7.4% is necessary to achieve this.
• Asia-Pacific region falling behind Despite reaching a peak in road crash fatalities, the Asia-Pacific region is not on track to meet the 2030 goal. The average annual reduction in deaths between 2016 and 2021 was only 0.6%, far below the required rate.
• Varying progress across Asia Using the 2016-2021 road crash fatality growth rate as a basis for estimates until 2030:
  • Only 3 Asian countries are projected to achieve the 50% reduction target by 2030.
  • 18 Asian countries are expected to reduce fatalities by at least 25%.
  • Worryingly, 7 Asian countries will continue to increase road fatalities, moving further away from the target.
• In Uzbekistan, road crash fatalities increased by approximately 0.7% per year between 2016 and 2021. If this pattern persists, the gap between current trends and the 2030 target will only widen

Uzbekistan has established road crash fatality reduction targets, aiming for a significant decrease in accident rates and improved safety for all transport modes. The goal is to reduce the social risk of death in road traffic accidents to the average level of developed countries. The country also has targets related to vehicle improvements and intermodality measures. Key policy documents include the Concept of Road Safety in the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2018-2022, the Draft Strategy for the Development of the Transport System of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2035, and the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On road safety"e;.

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IMF. (2024). Climate Data. https://climatedata.imf.org/pages/access-data

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (2021). GBD Results. GBD Results. https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (2024). Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021) Cause-Specific Mortality 1990-2021. https://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/ihme-data/gbd-2021-cause-specific-mortality-1990-2021

iRAP. (2024). Safety Insights Explorer. iRAP. https://irap.org/safety-insights-explorer/

Nirandjan, S., Koks, E. E., Ward, P. J., & Aerts, J. C. J. H. (2022). A spatially-explicit harmonized global dataset of critical infrastructure. Scientific Data, 9(1), 150. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01218-4

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division. (2022). World Population Prospects 2022. https://population.un.org/wpp/

WHO. (2023). Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023. https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/safety-and-mobility/global-status-report-on-road-safety-2023

World Bank. (2023). GDP, PPP (current international $). World Bank Open Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.PP.CD

World Bank. (2024). Current health expenditure (% of GDP). World Bank Open Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS