Eighty people in the Netherlands died by drowning last year. That is 27 fewer than in 2020. Relatively many migrants and children of migrants born in the Netherlands drowned, reports the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
For migrants with a non-European background who are younger than 20 years, the risk of drowning appears to be nine to ten times greater than for Dutch young people. Children of non-European migrants born in the Netherlands also run a greater risk of drowning than children of Dutch descent. Among people of Dutch origin, people aged 60 or older were the most likely to drown.
Statistics Netherlands also looked at the number of drownings due to suicide or traffic accidents, which are separate from the above-mentioned drowning cases. As a result, 86 and 38 people died in 2021 respectively. According to the statistics office, the number of suicide-related drownings has fallen slightly over the past ten years. The number of drownings as a result of traffic accidents remained stable during the same period.