10,341 euthanasia deaths last year, up 3.8%; Fifth fewer mental health-related requests

Last year, 10,341 people in the Netherlands died through euthanasia, an increase of 3.8 percent compared to 2024. The vast majority of people who requested euthanasia were over the age of 70 and suffering from physical ailments, mostly cancer. The number of requests for euthanasia due to mental illness dropped by a fifth last year, reported the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees (RTE), which tracks these figures.

The number of euthanasia deaths relative to the total mortality rate rose from 5.8 percent in 2024 to 6 percent last year. Nearly three-quarters, 74.7 percent, of people who requested euthanasia were over the age of 70. Last year, one teenager between the ages of 12 and 18 died of euthanasia.

Over 85 percent of euthanasia requests were due to common physical conditions such as cancer, disorders of the nervous system, lung conditions, or cardiovascular conditions.

Mental disorders prompted 174 requests for euthanasia last year. That is 45 fewer than in 2024, a decrease of nearly 21 percent. None of these requests involved child patients.

In 499 cases, euthanasia was administered to a patient with a form of dementia. The RTE handled 11 cases concerning individuals who were no longer mentally competent to request euthanasia themselves.

The RTE also reported 475 people requesting euthanasia due to a combination of age-related conditions. And the remaining 278 cases fell into the “other conditions” category.

The RTE assesses euthanasia cases to make sure that the involved doctors followed all the due diligence procedures. Last year, it recorded seven instances in which this was not the case. These are under investigation.