International Air Transport Association reported that Africa recorded the world’s highest aviation accident rate in 2025, highlighting ongoing challenges with runway safety, turboprop operations, and accident investigations.
According to IATA’s Annual Safety Report, the continent saw seven accidents, down from 11 in 2024, translating to an all-accident rate of 7.86 per million flights below the five-year regional average of 9.37. Despite the reduction in accidents, Africa’s fatality risk increased sharply from zero in 2024 to 2.19 per million flights, largely driven by turboprop incidents.
“Seventy-one percent of accidents involving African operators involved turboprops,” the report noted, with the most frequent types being runway excursions and other events where precise classification was limited by available information.
In comparison, other regions reported lower accident rates and fatality risks:
- Asia-Pacific: six accidents in 2025 (down from seven), fatality risk stable at 0.15 per million flights.
- Europe: 11 accidents (down from 12), zero fatality risk.
- Latin America and Caribbean: five accidents (unchanged), fatality risk fell from 0.37 to 0.26.
- North America: 16 accidents (up from 14), fatality risk rose from zero to 0.21.
- Middle East & North Africa: one accident, zero fatalities.
- North Asia: one non-fatal accident, fatality risk zero.
- Commonwealth of Independent States: four turboprop accidents, fatality risk increased from zero to 0.69.
Willie Walsh attributed the high risk in Africa to infrastructure shortcomings. “Rigid obstacles near runways increased accident severity, likely turning otherwise survivable occurrences into fatal ones,” he said. Walsh called for continuous reviews of runway safety areas and structures to meet global standards, stressing that airport infrastructure is critical to accident outcomes.
The report also revealed Africa’s lag in accident investigations: only 19 percent of accident reports were completed in line with Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, compared with 81 percent in the Commonwealth of Independent States and 78 percent in North America. Walsh said, “Accident investigation helps us improve safety, but many reports are not published in a timely, complete, or accessible way… coordinated global support to strengthen investigation capabilities is needed.”
Globally, 2025 saw 51 accidents among 38.7 million flights, slightly fewer than 54 accidents in 2024. However, fatal accidents rose to eight, resulting in 394 onboard deaths, up from 244 in 2024. Walsh emphasised, “Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel… every accident is, of course, one too many. The goal for aviation remains zero accidents and zero fatalities.”
The IATA report also warned of emerging risks from conflict zones and GNSS interference, which can mislead aircraft navigation. Walsh underscored, “Civil aircraft must never be placed at risk from military activity—deliberately or accidentally.”
