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Long-term exposure to noise from transport has negative effects on health. Based on data reported in 2022 under the Environmental Noise Directive, it is estimated that over 20 million people are highly annoyed and almost 7 million are highly sleep disturbed by long-term exposure to noise from transport. The European Union’s 2030 zero pollution target aims to reduce the share of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30%. A significant decline in the number of people highly affected by transport noise is required to achieve this.

Figure 1. Estimated number of people highly annoyed and highly sleep disturbed by noise from road, rail and aircraft traffic based on 2017 baseline, 2022 and 2030 zero pollution target, EU-27 Member States.

Chronic exposure to environmental noise significantly affects physical and mental health and well-being. It can lead to annoyance, sleep disturbance, and cognitive impairment in children, and have negative effects on cardiovascular and metabolic systems. A key target of the European Commission’s zero pollution action plan (ZPAP) is to reduce the number of people chronically disturbed by noise from transport in the EU by 30%, compared with 2017, by 2030.

Progress towards this target is measured by assessing changes in the number of people highly annoyed and highly sleep disturbed by road, rail and aircraft noise. The assessment uses population exposure data collected under the Environmental Noise Directive (END), starting from souce specific noise levels recommended by WHO Europe.

High annoyance and high sleep disturbance are considered to be good indicators for measuring adverse health effects of noise, which can lead to more severe health problems. Therefore, they are used as a proxy for chronic disturbance in this indicator. According to the latest data, it is estimated that more than 20 million people are highly annoyed and almost 7 million are highly sleep disturbed by noise from transport.

It is estimated that the number of people in the EU-27 who were highly annoyed by transport noise decreased by only 3.5%, between 2017 and 2022, while those experiencing high sleep disturbance declined by less than 1%. Based on the 2017 baseline and 2022 figures, achieving the 2030 zero pollution target for noise will require a further reduction—compared to 2022 levels—of 5.6 million people who are highly annoyed and 2 million who are highly sleep disturbed.

In terms of sources, road traffic noise is the most prevalent source of environmental noise and a main contributor to the overall effects of noise on health. Achieving the ZPAP target on noise will require upstream measures that reduce noise at the source. This potentially includes regulatory and legislative actions, long-term strategies incorporating urban and transport planning, and efforts that maximise synergies with climate, environmental and health policies.

Figure 2. Estimated number of people per 100,000 inhabitants highly annoyed and highly sleep disturbed by noise from road, rail and air traffic in 2022, EEA-32 member countires (excluding Türkiye and Lienchenstein).

Most countries in Europe have a large proportion of their population suffering from negative health effects due to noise from transport sources. Road traffic is the main source contributing to high annoyance levels across countries. Rail traffic is particularly relevant at night in countries with large railway networks, contributing to sleep disturbance. Although aircraft noise affects fewer people, it remains an important source of annoyance, as it is regarded as more irritating than road or rail traffic noise.

The variation among countries can be attributed to several factors. These include differences in noise mapping extent, the accuracy of input data and the structure and density of transport networks. Contributing factors also include the number of agglomerations as well as the effectiveness of noise managment strategies. As such, country-by-country comparisons should be approached with caution.