Nearly 10,000 opted for euthanasia in 2024, up 10% from 2023

Nearly 10,000 people died last year after opting for euthanasia. That is 10 percent more than the year before, according to the Regional Euthanasia Committees (RTE) They check whether each death was carried out according to the rules. Doctors are required to report each euthanasia to the committees.

Over 86 percent of the deceased had a common physical condition, such as cancer or a lung disease. Over 400 people (4.3 percent) had a form of dementia. More than 200 people (2.2 percent) suffered from mental disorders.

In six of the 9,958 cases of euthanasia, the doctors did not proceed carefully enough, the committees ruled. One such case involved a woman with a mental disorder that made her see feces everywhere and resulted in her obsessively cleaning everything. When a broken vertebra made her unable to do so, she found it unbearable. According to the review judges, the doctor should have called in an independent psychiatrist to determine whether her suffering was hopeless and whether there were other treatment options. The six judgments will be submitted to the Public Prosecution Service, which will decide on prosecution.

One minor died by euthanasia. The patient received euthanasia because of unbearable suffering as a result of a physical condition. In 2024, the RTE did not receive any reports about minors who received euthanasia because of unbearable suffering due to a mental condition. However, the committees did assess two reports in that category last year that had already been received the year before.

There were also 54 cases of duo-euthanasia, in which people chose to die together. In the past, these were always life partners. But last year, for the first time, others chose to die in this way. The RTE called them “close relatives.” Duo-euthanasia made headlines last year because former Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife Eugenie died together in this way.

The highest number of euthanasia cases, 2,637, came from the region encompassing Flevoland, Gelderland, Overijssel, and Utrecht. Another 2,397 made the decision in Noord-Brabant and Limburg. The regions of Noord-Holland accounted for 1,992 cases, followed closely by Zeeland and Zuid-Holland, which accounted for 1,919. The Caribbean portion of the Netherlands, along with the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, and Groningen, were where the remaining 1,013 reports originated.