Car accidents leading cause of death abroad

Many U.S. citizens don’t know it, but the U.S. Department of State is required by law to publish statistics on how its citizens die abroad from non-natural causes. Here’s how the numbers rounded out for June 2004 – July 2007:

• A total of 2312 U.S. citizens died from non-natural causes.
• Of that number, 747 people (roughly one third of the total) were killed in a vehicle accident. Car accidents are one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
• Homicide (435 cases) and drowning (303) round out the top three.
• On the regional level, more than half of the deaths occurred in the Americas, with Mexico leading the total for countries at 635.
• The least number of deaths occurred in Africa.

Should travelers worry? No - The statistics represent a very small percentage of people who lived and traveled abroad during this period. U.S. citizens made roughly 37 million international abroad by air in 2007 alone, according to ITA sources.

For more information, check out Death of U.S. Citizens Abroad and Statistical Summary from the U.S. Department of State website.