Africa Records Highest Aviation Accident Rate Globally In 2025 – IATA Report
The African continent recorded the highest regional aviation accident rate in the world during 2025, even as global safety performance showed marginal improvement, according to the 2025 Annual Safety Report released on Monday by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The report, which assesses the safety performance of the global aviation industry, indicates that Africa recorded seven accidents involving its operators last year. This resulted in an all-accident rate of 7.86 per million sectors for the continent. While this figure represents an improvement from the 12.13 per million sectors recorded in 2024, and is below the five-year average of 9.37, it remains the highest accident rate among all global regions assessed by the industry body.
A critical detail from the report highlights a persistent trend in the region’s accident profile. IATA stated that 71 per cent of the accidents involving Africa-based operators in 2025 occurred with turboprop aircraft. This points to ongoing operational and infrastructure challenges that disproportionately affect these aircraft types, which are commonly deployed for regional connectivity and shorter routes across the continent.
While the accident rate declined, the safety data for Africa showed a regression in terms of fatality risk. The report noted that fatality risk increased from zero in 2024 to 2.19 in 2025, reflecting that the accidents which did occur involved loss of life. The most common accident types recorded in the region were runway excursions and incidents classified as “other end state” events.
The “other end state” classification, according to aviation safety protocols, is used when an accident cannot be clearly classified due to insufficient information. IATA emphasized that Africa accounts for the majority of these “other end state” incidents recorded globally since 2018. This sustained trend has prompted renewed calls for stronger regulatory compliance.
Specifically, the report points to the need for stricter adherence to accident investigation requirements as mandated by the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. Industry experts and safety bodies have long emphasized the importance of Annex 13 of the Convention, which governs aircraft accident and incident investigation. Full compliance with Annex 13 is critical for identifying root causes and implementing preventive measures to enhance future safety.
Globally, the aviation industry recorded 51 accidents across 38.7 million flights in 2025, a slight improvement from the 54 accidents recorded across 37.9 million flights in 2024. The global all-accident rate improved to 1.32 per million flights, compared to 1.42 per million flights in 2024.
Despite the lower accident count, the number of fatal accidents and on-board fatalities rose. The report documented eight fatal accidents in 2025, up from seven in the previous year. On-board fatalities jumped to 394, a significant increase from the 244 deaths recorded in 2024. The most common accident types on a global scale included tail strikes, landing gear incidents, runway excursions, and ground damage, indicating that a significant portion of incidents occur during the critical phases of take-off, landing, or ground handling operations.
Safety performance varied considerably across other regions in 2025:
North America recorded 16 accidents, pushing its accident rate to 1.68 per million sectors, higher than the 1.49 recorded in 2024 and above its five-year average of 1.33.
Europe recorded 11 accidents, with the accident rate declining to 1.30 per million sectors from 1.48 in 2024, though this remains above the region’s five-year average of 1.11. The region recorded no fatalities.
Asia-Pacific recorded six accidents, with the accident rate improving to 0.91 per million sectors, down from 1.08 in 2024.
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded five accidents, with the accident rate improving marginally to 1.77 per million sectors from 1.84 in 2024.
The Middle East and North Africa region recorded only one accident, achieving an improved accident rate of 0.53 per million sectors.
North Asia recorded one non-fatal tail strike accident, maintaining a steady accident rate of 0.16 per million sectors.
Despite the increase in fatalities recorded in 2025, IATA reiterated that aviation remains the safest form of long-distance travel, noting that long-term safety performance trends over the past decade continue to show improvement. The report underscores that while the industry is moving in the right direction, targeted interventions remain necessary in regions like Africa to address systemic risks and bring safety performance in line with global averages.