Nearly 140 people drowned in the Netherlands last year

Last year, more people drowned in the Netherlands than the average over the past ten years. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported 98 Dutch deaths by drowning in 2023. In the past decade, an average of 88 people drowned per year. 41 people not from the Netherlands, like tourists or temporary workers, also drowned.

The figures only count accidental drownings. Cases of suicide or murder are not included.

The number of drowning accidents fluctuates per year. That is why the statistics agency also investigates the total number of drownings over a ten-year period between 2014 and 2023. During that period, 877 Dutch people drowned. During that period, 887 Dutch people drowned. Three-quarters of them drowned in open water, like the sea, a lake, or a canal. The rest died close to home, for example, in a bath or pond.

People over the age of 60 died relatively most often from drowning in the past decade. The number of drownings was also considerably higher among young children of migrants. CBS calculated that children under 10 who were born outside Europe drowned nine times more often than children of Dutch origin.

Relatively, most people drowned in the water-rich regions of Zeeland, Amsterdam-Amstelland, Noord-Holland-Noord, and Friesland. In absolute numbers, most people drownd in the Amsterdam region. Of the drownings among people who do not live in the Netherlands, such as tourists, 20 percent occurred in Amsterdam.

No figures are available for 2024 yet, but in recent weeks, several swimmers have gotten into trouble. On Friday, a Polish man drowned in the Lathumseplas at Giesbeek, near Arnhem. A 52-year-old German died on Saturday in the Kattendiep near Kampen, and in Smalle Ee, near Drachten, a swimmer was found in critical condition. On Monday, emergency services resuscitated a 6-year-old boy after pulling him from a recreational lake in a holiday park near Gelderland.