Objective  To examine the disease burden due to road injuries in China and the world in 1999 and 2019, and to provide references for the prevention and control of road injuries in China.

  Methods  The data of 1999 and 2019 on road injury-related disease burden in population of China and the world were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD 2019) Study. Years of life lost (YLL), years lived with disability (YLD), and disability adjusted life years (DALY) attributed to road injury for China population and world population were analyzed and compared.

  Results   For the years of 1999 and 2019, the mortality rate (1/100 000) of road injury in China population were 20.48 and 17.58, which were higher than those (19.69 and 15.49) in world population; the YLL rate (1/100 000) attributed to road injury in China population were 1 065.77 and 724.09, which were also higher than those (1 042.40 and 723.92) in world population; whereas, compared to those in world population, lower YLD rate (101.65/100 000 vs. 191.80/100 000), DALY (208.02/100 000 vs. 218.27/100 000), and DALY rate (1 171.41/100 000 vs. 1 234.20/100 000) were observed in China population. Among all road injuries in China population for the years of 1999 and 2019, the highest mortality rate (11.56/100 000 and 9.91/100 000), YLL rate (594.38/100 000 and 389.66/100 000), YLD rate (33.98/100 000 and 67.02/100000), and DALY rate (628.37/100 000 and 456.68/100 000) were attributed to pedestrian injury; and the all rates for the year of 2019 were higher than those in world population (mortality rate: 5.82/100 000, YLL rate: 50.86/100 000, YLD rate: 53.42/100 000, and DALY rate: 3.04.28/100 000). For the years of 1999 and 2019 in China population and consistent with the situations in world population, the disease burden of road injury was higher in males than in females; the age-specific road injury-related YLD rate was the highest in the elderly aged ≥ 70 years and the DALY rate was the highest in the people aged 15 – 49 and 50 – 69 years; the age-specific YLL rate was the highest in the people aged 15 – 49 years. For the year of 1999 in China population, the DALY rate of road injury caused by industrial injury and alcohol drinking in China was higher than those in world population; while the DALY rate of road injury correlated to low bone density, smoking and high body temperature were lower than those in world population. For the year of 2019 in China population, the DALY rate of road injury associated with low bone density and alcohol consumption were higher than those in world population; while the DALY rate of road injury caused by work-related injuries, high body temperature and smoking were lower than those in world population.

  Conclusion   For China population in years of 1999 and 2019, the disease burden due to road injuries was relatively heavier and the mortality rate and YLL rate of road injuries were higher than those in world population. The study results suggest that males, middle-aged and elderly people, the people with low bone density or alcohol consumption are key populations in road injury prevention in China.