The European Commission on Tuesday published the 2016 road safety statistics of European Union (EU), showing a 2 percent decrease in the number of fatalities compared with the previous year.

According to the figures, 25,500 people were killed in 2016, 600 fewer than in 2015 and 6,000 fewer than in 2010. This represents a 19 percent drop over the last six years.

The Commission said that in 2016, the EU registered 50 road fatalities per million inhabitants and most of the member states have improved their road safety records since 2010.

Among all the member states, last year, Sweden registered the lowest fatality rate per million inhabitants at 27. It was followed by Britain and the Netherlands, which were 28 and 33 respectively

In contrast, Bulgaria ranked the weakest road safety records at 99 fatalities per million people. It was followed by Romania and Latvia at 97 and 80 respectively.

Compared with 2015, Lithuania registered the biggest reduction in the number of road fatalities by 22 percent. It was followed by Latvia's 16 percent and the Czech Republic's 16 percent.

The Commission estimated that 135,000 people were seriously injured across the EU in 2016. Vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists accounted for a large proportion of seriously injured people.