Aviation safety statistics vary substantially with the population, accident definition, and denominator used. The figures below cover scheduled commercial operations, IATA commercial flights, and regional ICAO datasets, with measurement periods and scope stated for each result.
Key Aviation Safety Statistics
These highlights summarize distinct measures from global and regional aviation safety reporting:
- In 2023, ICAO recorded 68 accidents globally involving aircraft above 5,700 kg MTOW, up 3.1% from 2022.
- In 2023, the global scheduled-commercial accident rate was 1.87 accidents per million departures.
- In 2023, global scheduled air transport carried about 4.2 billion passengers.
- In 2023, global scheduled air transport exceeded 35 million flight departures.
- In 2023, ICAO recorded one fatal accident and 72 fatalities globally in scheduled commercial operations.
- In 2023, the ICAO fatality rate was 17 people per billion passengers globally.
- In 2024, IATA counted 40.6 million commercial flights worldwide.
- In 2024, IATA’s all-accident rate was 1.13 per million commercial flights globally.
- In 2024, IATA reported seven fatal accidents globally in its commercial aviation dataset.
- In 2024, IATA reported 244 onboard fatalities globally.
- In 2024, IOSA-registered airlines recorded 0.92 accidents per million flights in the IATA dataset.
- In 2023, turbulence encounters and abnormal runway contact represented around half of ICAO’s accidents globally.
- In 2023, ICAO recorded 29 acts of unlawful interference globally.
- In 2023, the APAC five-year moving-average accident rate was 1.08 per million departures.
- In 2023, IATA’s APAC accident rate was 0.37 per million departures.
- In 2024, the ICAO EUR region recorded 22 qualifying accidents across its 55-state region.
- In 2024, the EUR accident rate was 2.46 per million departures.
- In 2024, the ICAO MID region recorded 46 accidents, 9% more than in 2023.
- In 2024, the MID fatality-risk rate was 0.06 per million sectors.
Contents
- Global aviation safety statistics: accidents, departures and fatalities
- 2024 airline safety statistics: rates, fatalities and exposure
- Aviation safety statistics by accident type and outcome
- Asia-Pacific aviation safety statistics and trends
- Europe aviation safety statistics: accidents and high-risk categories
- Middle East aviation safety statistics and operational risks
Global Aviation Safety Statistics: Accidents, Departures and Fatalities
ICAO’s 2024 Safety Report generally covers scheduled commercial operations using aircraft above 5,700 kg MTOW. That population is narrower than all aviation, so these figures should not be read as general-aviation totals.
| Measure | Earlier period | Later period |
|---|---|---|
| Accident rate | 2.14 per million departures (2019) | 2.05 (2022); 1.87 (2023) |
| Passengers | 3.2 billion (2022) | 4.2 billion (2023) |
| Departures | About 31 million (2022) | More than 35 million (2023) |
| Fatal accidents | 7 (2022) | 1 (2023) |
| Fatalities | 160 (2022) | 72 (2023) |
The 2023 accident count was 68, a 3.1% increase from 2022, while departures rose about 13% in the same comparison. The global scheduled-commercial accident rate was 17.9% below 2022, falling from 2.05 to 1.87 accidents per million departures.
ICAO reported about 4.2 billion passengers in 2023, up from 3.2 billion in 2022, and more than 35 million departures, compared with about 31 million. The passenger-based fatality rate fell from 50 to 17 people per billion passengers between 2022 and 2023; this is not a flight-based risk measure.
Source: ICAO Safety Report 2024 Edition and The World of Air Transport in 2023. ICAO and IATA use different accident definitions, populations, and denominators.
2024 Airline Safety Statistics: Rates, Fatalities and Exposure
IATA’s 2024 results use its own global commercial-flight dataset and inclusion rules. The reported 40.6 million flights provide the exposure base for IATA’s all-accident rate of 1.13 per million flights, equivalent in the report to one accident per 880,000 flights.
| IATA measure | 2024 result | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| All-accident rate | 1.13 per million flights | Below 1.25 five-year average |
| Fatal accidents | 7 | Global IATA commercial dataset |
| Onboard fatalities | 244 | 72 more than IATA’s 2023 total |
| Fatality-risk score | 0.06 | Below 0.10 five-year average |
The five-year average improved from one accident per 456,000 flights in 2011–2015 to one per 810,000 flights in 2020–2024. Because the latter period includes pandemic-recovery years, the comparison should be interpreted within IATA’s methodology rather than combined with ICAO’s series.
IATA also reported a difference between IOSA-registered and non-IOSA carriers in 2024: 0.92 versus 1.70 accidents per million flights. This is an observational comparison, and carrier mix and operating environments may confound the difference.
Source: IATA Releases 2024 Safety Report. The IATA fatality-risk score is not the same measure as fatalities per passenger.
Aviation Safety Statistics by Accident Type and Outcome
Accident counts alone do not show how events affected aircraft or occupants. ICAO’s 2023 categories show why outcome and occurrence type need to be kept separate.
- Turbulence encounters and abnormal runway contact together represented around half of ICAO’s 2023 accidents globally; this is ICAO’s rounded estimate.
- ICAO recorded one loss-of-control-in-flight fatal accident in 2023, and that single accident produced all 72 recorded fatalities in its dataset.
- Two aircraft were destroyed in 2023: one in a loss-of-control-on-ground accident and one in a loss-of-control-in-flight accident.
- Eight aircraft sustained substantial damage in 2023 in abnormal-runway-contact accidents.
ICAO also recorded 29 acts of unlawful interference in 2023, a security-event population distinct from aircraft accidents. Of those acts, 10 were attacks on aircraft in flight, 16 targeted airports or other aviation facilities, and one was a cyberattack endangering aviation safety.
These security counts describe reported acts, not a prevalence estimate for all attempted attacks. The categories and damage outcomes use ICAO’s definitions.
Source: The World of Air Transport in 2023.
Asia-Pacific Aviation Safety Statistics and Trends
The Asia-Pacific figures combine an ICAO RASG-APAC five-year moving average with IATA rates identified in the regional report. They are useful for trend context, but the definitions are not interchangeable.
| APAC measure | 2014 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| ICAO five-year moving-average accident rate | 2.67 per million departures | 1.08 |
| IATA accident rate | Not stated in supplied comparison | 0.37 per million departures |
| IATA fatal-accident rate | 0.43 per million departures | 0.09 |
| Global IATA fatal-accident comparator | 0.25 per million departures | 0.03 |
The APAC five-year moving-average accident rate declined from 2.67 per million departures in 2014 to 1.08 in 2023. In the IATA series, APAC’s 2023 accident rate was 0.37 per million departures, compared with 0.80 for the global comparator.
APAC’s IATA fatal-accident rate fell from 0.43 per million departures in 2014 to 0.09 in 2023, while the global comparator fell from 0.25 to 0.03. The published 2023 values make APAC’s rounded rate three times the global comparator, but this is a simple comparison of rounded values, not a causal finding.
Source: Annual Safety Report 2024 Asia Pacific Region. The APAC report’s ICAO and IATA measures use different accident definitions.
Europe Aviation Safety Statistics: Accidents and High-Risk Categories
The ICAO EUR report covers a 55-state region and qualifying scheduled-commercial operations involving aircraft above 5,700 kg MTOW. Its 2024 results show a higher accident rate than the preceding year in the same regional series.
| EUR measure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying accidents | Not stated in supplied result | 22 |
| Fatal accidents | Not stated in supplied result | 3 |
| Fatalities | Not stated in supplied result | 40 |
| Accident rate | 1.42 per million departures | 2.46 |
| Fatal-accident rate | Not stated in supplied result | 0.34 per million departures |
| High-risk-category share | 0% of accidents | 4.76% |
The EUR accident rate was 2.81 per million departures in 2013 and 1.05 in 2022 before rising from 1.42 in 2023 to 2.46 in 2024. In 2024, three of the 22 qualifying accidents were fatal, with 40 fatalities in the report’s defined population.
High-risk categories represented 4.76% of EUR accidents in 2024, compared with 0% in 2023 under the report’s validated coding. The report defines these categories as controlled flight into terrain, loss of control in flight, runway excursion, runway incursion, or mid-air collision.
Source: ICAO EUR 2024 Annual Safety Report. Zero counts do not establish zero risk.
Middle East Aviation Safety Statistics and Operational Risks
The ICAO MID report uses sectors as its denominator, so its rates should not be compared directly with departure-based APAC and EUR rates. Its long-term series nevertheless shows lower accident and fatality-risk rates in 2024 than in 2005.
| MID measure | 2005 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accident rate | 3.72 per million sectors | Not stated in supplied result | 1.13 |
| Fatality-risk rate | 0.69 per million sectors | 0.03 | 0.06 |
| Accidents | Not stated in supplied result | Basis for change | 46 |
The MID region recorded 46 accidents in 2024, 9% more than in 2023, including seven fatal accidents and 244 onboard deaths. Its fatality-risk rate rose from 0.03 per million sectors in 2023 to 0.06 in 2024, while the long-term series declined from 0.69 in 2005 to 0.06 in 2024.
Tail strikes were the most frequent MID accident category in 2024, with 12 accidents, followed by runway excursions with 10. These are category frequencies, not exposure-adjusted rates.
The report also gave a 2024 GPS-interference FDX rate of 138% for the MID region versus a world average of 39.38%. FDX is the report’s interference metric, not an accident rate, so it should not be interpreted as another measure of accident frequency.
Source: RASG-MID Annual Safety Report 2020–2024.