Hospitalisations Linked to E-Scooters and E-Bikes Rise Sharply, AIHW Report Finds

Hospitalisation rates in Australia resulting from falls involving a vehicle category that includes e-scooters more than tripled between 2019–20 and 2024–25, according to a report released on 22 October 2026 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, titled E-scooter and e-bike injuries and deaths in Australia: national trends and data limitations, examines hospitalisations across broader transport groups that encompass e-scooters and e-bikes from 2009–10 to 2024–25. The AIHW noted that current hospital recording systems do not provide exact counts of injuries specifically for e-scooters or e-bikes alone, as these devices are grouped within wider transport categories.

According to the findings, hospitalisations for falls involving the transport category containing e-scooters rose from 1,291 in 2019–20 to 4,089 in 2024–25. Across the general population, the hospitalisation rate increased from 5 to 15 per 100,000 people. Over the same timeframe, hospitalisations resulting from falls from non-powered scooters decreased from 7 to 5 per 100,000 people.

AIHW spokesperson Jacqueline Rek stated that while the data cannot specify the exact portion of the increase driven by usage rates, the trend aligns with the rising popularity of e-scooters and shared-access schemes across Australia. The report also identified increasing hospitalisation rates for drivers and riders in the broader group that includes e-bikes, although these trends remain less specific due to wider vehicle grouping.

Males accounted for roughly two-thirds of the hospitalisations for falls in the e-scooter-inclusive category in 2024–25. The sharpest increase occurred among boys aged 12 to 15, whose hospitalisation rate rose from 3.6 to 54 per 100,000 population over the five-year period. In 2024–25, boys in that age demographic were more than four times as likely as girls of the same age to be hospitalised for falls within that vehicle group.

Fractures were the most frequent diagnosis, representing 58% of hospitalisations from falls in the e-scooter-related transport category in 2024–25, up from 46% in 2015–16. Despite the rise in total numbers, the AIHW stated there was no clear evidence that admitted cases were becoming more severe overall.

The report also documented pedestrian injuries resulting from collisions. In 2024–25, there were 164 hospitalisations of pedestrians injured in collisions with the vehicle group that includes e-scooters, and 147 involving the group that includes e-bikes.

The AIHW noted that the data captures only serious injuries requiring hospital admission and excludes non-admitted emergency department visits, general practitioner visits, and broader mortality figures outside of hospital stays. To address data classification limitations, new national hospital coding introduced on 1 July 2026 will allow future records to distinguish e-scooters and e-bikes from other transport types.

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