France mainland into families of homogeneous departments.
The specificities of the territories have an impact on the type of mobility and thus on accidents
In 2021, a new classification makes it possible to compare each department with the other departments in its reference family, taking into account their dispersion. It thus makes it possible to better interpret the figures on the various maps presented elsewhere.
Typology of accidents in France mainland
The final classification obtained proposes 7 families of departments for France mainland.
- Family 1: Mountain departments: This family is made up of 13 departments. For many variables, it differs from the national average. The two variables that are furthest apart are
The two variables that are furthest apart are mountain area (84% versus 24%) and the average altitude of residences (522 meters versus 148 meters).
- Family 2: Rural departments with low population density: This family is made up of 30 departments. The indicators for this family are fairly close to the national averages. This family is particularly characterized by: the absence of communes with more than 100,000 inhabitants, a rather low population, a low density and a low share of surface area classified as mountainous.
- Family 3: Mediterranean departments: This family consists of 9 departments. This family is characterized by three indicators that are well above the national average: the percentage of second homes, the share of municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and the percentage of mountain area. This is accompanied by lower than average precipitation amounts, higher than average 2RMs, and higher than average minimum temperatures.
- Family 4: Mono-polarized departments: This family is made up of 14 departments. Most of the indicators in this family are close to the national average. This family is characterized by a high number of communes with more than 100,000 inhabitants, a high population, and an above-average percentage of suburban territory.
- Family 5: Multi-polarized departments: This family consists of 20 departments. Most of the indicators in this family are quite different from the national average. This family is characterized by a higher-than-average percentage of "multipolar" territories and, to a lesser extent the share of freeways and the share of suburban areas are also higher than average. On the contrary, the share of second homes and the percentage of mountainous areas are lower than average.
- Family 6: Departments with very high population density This family is made up of 6 departments. Most of the indicators in this family are quite different from the national average. This family is therefore characterized by a particularly high population, density, share of communes with more than 100,000 inhabitants, suburbanization, and share of highways. Conversely, this family has a lower-than-average share of second homes and a lower-than-average percentage of area classified as mountain.
- Family 7: Paris and the inner suburbs: This family consists of 4 departments. These departments were excluded from the PCA calculations because they were very specific and biased the analysis for the other departments. This family is characterized by five particularly higher than average indicators: population, density, the share of municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, the number of hotel nights in relation to the population, the number of motorized bicycles in relation to the population and the share of public transport in the fleet.
The overseas departments do not constitute a homogeneous family and cannot be compared with the above families. However, the data concerning them are available in the appendix of the report.
2021 results
- The departments of Paris and the inner suburbs are characterised by a low mortality rate (two to three times lower than the mainland average in 2020). The proportion of pedestrians and motorcyclists is higher. Between 2019 and 2020, the death rate increased in Paris (+16 %).
- In the Mediterranean departements, the 18-24 years old (133 fatalities/Minhab) and the 25-34 years old (87 fatalities/Minhab) are particularly at risk. The share of motorised bicycles in the mortality rate is 30% compared with 23% on average, and the share of people killed in an accident with an alcoholic and/or drug-impaired driver is higher than average. and/or under the influence of drugs is higher than average (48% vs. 43%).
- Rural or sparsely populated departments account for 24% of deaths in France mainland in 2021. Over five years, they have the highest mortality per million inhabitants (69 people killed per million inhabitants). The rate is also the highest for mortality among young people aged 18-24 (172) or 25-34 (104) in relation to the population of these ages.
- The two families of mono-polarised departments and multi-polarised departments each account for one fifth of road deaths in 2021. Over five years, the indicators for these two families of departments are very close to the national national average.
- In the mountain departments, the reported mortality per million inhabitants is the 2nd highest, on average for all ages (65), but also for 18-24 years old (138) and 25-34 years old (93); it is the highest for those aged 65 or over (79).