This study analysed socioeconomic inequalities in mortality due to injuries in small areas of 15 European cities, by sex, at the beginning of this century. A cross-sectional ecological study with units of analysis being small areas within 15 European cities was conducted. Relative risks of injury mortality associated with the socioeconomic deprivation index were estimated using hierarchical Bayesian model. The number of small areas varies from 17 in Bratislava to 2666 in Turin. The median population per small area varies by city (e.g. Turin had 274 inhabitants per area while Budapest had 76,970). Socioeconomic inequalities in all injury mortality are observed in the majority of cities and are more pronounced in men. In the cities of northern and western Europe, socioeconomic inequalities in injury mortality are found for most types of injuries. These inequalities are not significant in the majority of cities in southern Europe among women and in the majority of central eastern European cities for both sexes. The results confirm the existence of socioeconomic inequalities in injury related mortality and reveal variations in their magnitude between different European cities.

This paper has been partially funded by the project INEQ-CITIES, “Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality: evidence and policies of cities of Europe”; project funded by the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (Commission of the European Union), project no. 2008 12 13.