«Italy is a democratic republic founded on work»: yet, even today too many workers die while carrying out their duties. The case of Octay Stroici – the 66-year-old worker who died in Rome after being stuck for 11 hours under the rubble of the collapsed Torre dei Conti – is yet another sad demonstration of how, in our country, worker safety still has to make giant strides.
According to INAIL data (National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work), in the first 9 months of 2025, 777 work-related deaths were recorded, with an average of 2.85 fatal accidents per day. Although it has been constantly decreasing from the 1960s to today, this is a worrying figure. In fact, Italy is the third EU country in terms of number of deaths at work per 100,000 employed, behind only France and Bulgaria.
Data on fatal accidents in Italy in the first 9 months of 2025
Overall, from 1 January to 30 September 2025, INAIL received 310,726 injury reports (fatal and non-fatal), a decrease of 0.2% compared to the same period in 2024 and marking -28% compared to 2022. In these first 9 months of the year, 777 injuries (excluding students) were fatal, of which 570 occurred in the workplace and 207 “in itinere”, i.e. occurring on the way to and from the home and the workplace. This is an extremely worrying figure: to be clear, it means 2.85 dead workers per day.
The figure, among other things, is up by 1.2% compared to the same period in 2024: comparing it to the data on employees released by ISTAT, in the first 9 months of the year the incidence of fatal accidents at work was 2.35 deaths per 100,000 workers.
It should be remembered, however, that these are the official data released by INAIL and which refer exclusively to the reports of regularly registered workers: in reality, therefore, the number of injuries and deaths could be even higher.
From a geographical distribution point of view, however, the highest incidence of cases is confirmed in the North-West and the South, followed by the North-East, the Center and the Islands.
Among the sectors with the most accidents occurring during the performance of work duties, the construction sectors (+2.9%), commerce (+2.6%), healthcare and social assistance (+2.1%) and accommodation and restaurant services activities (+1.5%) are growing. On the contrary, the transport and warehousing sectors (-1.9%) and the manufacturing sector (-1.2%) improved slightly.
Fatal accidents at work in previous years
It must be said, however, that over the last 10 years the situation has improved, as can also be seen in the graph below. If in the 1960s around 20.6 people died at work per 100,000 employed, in 2024 this value dropped drastically to 3.1 per 100,000, with a gradual decrease over the last 60 years, with the exception of the two-year period 2020-2021, when deaths caused by Covid-19 were also counted).
In short, if it is true that over the decades the issue of safety at work has acquired increasingly greater centrality, it is clear that in 2025 the problem still remains tangible.
Comparison with other EU countries
Even in comparison with other European states, Italy is not positioned well: according to the most recent Eurostat data, referring to 2023, our country occupies third place in the ranking for the number of fatal accidents at work. France is in first place (with 3.6 accidents per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by Bulgaria (3.5), compared to an EU average of 1.6 fatal accidents per 100,000 inhabitants. Among the best, however, remain Germany (0.7) and the Netherlands (0.4).
