Brussels – Summer means holidays and refreshing swims. Whether it’s beaches or facilities with swimming pools, water serves as a refuge from the scorching sun, but it also increases the risk of drowning. In 2022, there were 4,810 deaths by drowning and submersion in the EU. Not a few, but the good news, Eurostat notes, is that the figure is falling. Compared to 2021, fatal water accidents dropped by 3.9 percent, resulting in 194 fewer fatalities.
Among the EU Member States, in 2022, the highest number of drowning and submersion deaths was recorded in France (784), which alone accounts for 16.3 percent of the total in the EU. Germany (542), Poland (535), Romania (472), and Spain (449) follow. The lowest numbers in the EU were recorded in Luxembourg (1) and Malta (3).
Italy is the sixth most dangerous country in the European Union in terms of fatal water accidents. In 2022, there were 295 fatalities, the highest figure since 2017 (307), and bucking the trend: while at the EU level the number of drowning accidents decreased, in Italy between 2021 and 2022 it increased (+51 deaths).
The European Statistical Office also notes a trend that is yet again confirmed: “As in previous years, drowning deaths were more common among men than women.” Specifically, in 2022, this was the case in all EU countries. However, in Slovenia (14 men, 11 women), the difference was less substantial than in other EU countries. In Luxembourg, the only victim was a man.
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