Africa recorded the highest aviation accident rate globally in 2025, despite a significant decline from the previous year, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) 2025 Annual Safety Report.
The continent reported seven accidents, resulting in an all-accident rate of 7.86 per million sectors. This marks an improvement from 12.13 per million sectors in 2024, yet it remains the worst rate among all world regions. A stark concern was the rise in fatality risk, which increased from zero in 2024 to 2.19 in 2025, directly linked to fatal incidents during the period. Analysis revealed that 71% of accidents involving African-based operators involved turboprop aircraft, underscoring ongoing operational and infrastructure challenges for these fleets.
A persistent data gap hampers safety progress. IATA noted that Africa accounts for the majority of “other end state” incidents recorded globally since 2018. This classification is used when accidents cannot be clearly categorized due to insufficient information, pointing directly to weak compliance with international accident investigation standards, specifically Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention.
Globally, safety performance showed a positive trend in accident rates even as flight volumes increased. The worldwide all-accident rate improved to 1.32 per million flights in 2025, down from 1.42 in 2024. The industry handled approximately 38.7 million flights, recording 51 accidents compared to 54 over 37.9 million flights in 2024. However, fatalities rose to 394 from 244, with fatal accidents increasing slightly to eight from seven.
The most common accident types globally were tail strikes, landing gear incidents, runway excursions, and ground damage, indicating that critical phases like take-off, landing, and ground handling remain high-risk.
Regional performance varied. Asia-Pacific achieved the lowest rate at 0.91 per million sectors, while Europe’s rate fell to 1.30 with no fatalities. North America’s rate increased to 1.68. Latin America and the Caribbean saw a slight improvement to 1.77. The Middle East and North Africa region reported one accident, yielding a rate of 0.53.
Despite the increase in global fatalities, IATA reaffirmed that aviation remains the safest form of long-distance travel, with a strong long-term safety trajectory over the past decade. For Africa, the dual challenge of reducing its high accident rate while addressing fatal outcomes and investigation compliance remains critical for closing the safety gap with other regions.
