In water-loving Switzerland, about 50 people drown every year

A sign on a beach in Neuchâtel in western Switzerland. Every year, about 50 drownings occur, mainly in Swiss rivers and lakes. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Summer activities on Switzerland’s lakes and rivers are hugely popular, but their dangers are sometimes underestimated. Every year, about 50 drownings are recorded. Here are the main characteristics of these incidents.

Whether paddleboarding across Lake Neuchâtel, floating through Bern on the River Aare, or plunging into the turquoise pools of Ticino’s Verzasca Valley, Switzerland’s lakes and rivers help define the summer season.

The popularity of swimming and other water activities comes with a significant toll. Around 13,000 swimming-related accidents are recorded every year, and almost 50 people drown in Swiss waters, according to statistics from the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.

In 2025, 43 people drowned, slightly below average. Although it is too early to say, the toll could be higher by the end of the scorching summer of 2026. By the end of July, the Swiss Lifesaving Society had recorded more drownings than during the same period in 2024 and 2025.

The risk of drowning rises with temperatures

It has remained hot and dry since then. “There is a correlation between high temperatures and fatal drownings,” says David Burkhardt, who is responsible for water safety at the Council for Accident Prevention. During the historic heatwave of 2003, almost 90 people drowned in Switzerland. A more recent grim figure was recorded in 2022, when 66 people drowned.

The same pattern can be observed elsewhere. In June, Germany recorded its highest number of drownings since 2003. The figures are also not good in France, according to the sports minister. Between June 19 and July 10, the number of drowning deaths was almost 20% higher than during the same period last year.

Against this backdrop, here are five things to know about drownings in Switzerland.

1. Drownings are rare by international standards

Despite the population’s enthusiasm for swimming in open water, Switzerland has a low drowning rate by international standards – that is, the number of drowning deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the latest available global data, the rate is 0.5 in Switzerland, compared with almost 4 worldwide. Drowning claims more than 300,000 lives a year around the world, according to the United Nations, with almost a quarter of the victims being young children.

However, Burkhardt says this comparison is of limited value when assessing the situation in Switzerland. “Switzerland starts from a very different position from many other countries,” he says. “For example, the statistics show that low-income countries generally have a drowning rate three times higher than high-income countries.” This is partly due to shortcomings in prevention measures, rescue services and safety infrastructure, as well as the fact that swimming lessons are less widely available.

For the specialist, a detailed analysis of accidents in the Swiss context offers a more useful basis for improving prevention.

2. Nine out of ten drownings occur in rivers and lakes

As in other countries, the vast majority of drownings in Switzerland occur in open water, where conditions are often more challenging. “The current, the temperature, reduced visibility, greater distances and, generally, less supervision,” are factors Burkhardt lists.

In Switzerland, almost half of all drownings occur in rivers and more than 40% in lakes – proportions that are also found, for example, in Germany. By comparison, in France, more than 40% of drownings occur at sea, while 16% take place in private swimming pools.

3. Drownings increasingly affect retirees but fewer children

Men – particularly those in their 20s – are the group most affected by drownings. Prevention experts attribute this to a tendency towards risk-taking behaviour, sometimes compounded by alcohol consumption, and to the reduced supervision of adults once children reach adolescence.

>>Read this 2022 interview on the subject with the director of the Swiss Lifesaving Society:

Between 2000 and 2024, the drowning rate among young children in Switzerland fell by half, from 0.24 to 0.12, according to the Council for Accident Prevention. Last year, two children died by drowning. Prevention experts aim to bring this number down to zero by 2030.

By contrast, the drowning rate among people aged over 70 has long exceeded that of children under five, and the gap has widened further over the past 20 years, rising from 0.44 to 0.83. The Council for Accident Prevention attributes this to the ageing population and the fact that people in this age group are increasingly taking part in water-based leisure activities.

While this reversal in drowning rates among children and seniors has long been observed in Switzerland, it only occurred globally a few years ago.

4. Almost half of drowning victims are foreign nationals

Foreign tourists account for 14% of all fatal drownings. This is a disproportionately high figure, Burkhardt says, because “we assume these tourists have relatively limited exposure compared with the Swiss population”.

“We assume this is linked, for example, to the fact that these people are less familiar with the specific dangers of local bodies of water because they know the environment less well and have not grown up in this context,” he explains.

People of foreign nationality who live in Switzerland account for just under one-third of drowning victims, although they only make up a quarter of the population.

Again, this is an over-representation, which could have several possible explanations. Burkhardt points to “different or even non-existent childhood experiences around water; poorer access to information because of language barriers; less developed swimming and water-safety skills or, quite simply, a different swimming culture, for example a lack of familiarity with swimming in rivers”.

Burkhardt nevertheless cautions against generalising. Nationality is not a cause in itself. “The risk depends first and foremost on the exposure and the situation in which a person finds themselves, and then on how they behave in that situation,” he says.

5. Switzerland relies on prevention and individual responsibility

The number of fatal drownings has fallen dramatically in recent decades. Until 1975, Switzerland regularly recorded more than 200 drownings a year, despite having a smaller population. “This suggests that prevention efforts are paying off,” says Christoph Merki, a spokesman for the Swiss Lifesaving Society.

“The Swiss Lifesaving Society takes a very broad approach to prevention,” he explains. Among other things, it publishes its brochures in 14 languages, promotes swimming and water-safety skills, organises various awareness-raising campaigns and puts up information signs along the water in cooperation with partner organisations.

The government, meanwhile, has so far shown little inclination to intervene, Swiss public broadcaster RTS recently reported. The most recent parliamentary motion on the issue, submitted by the Social Democrat parliamentarian Baptiste Hurni, dates back to 2023. The government said at the time that it relied on individual responsibility, as well as on local authorities and the various organisations involved.

The government is currently considering scrapping the three compulsory hours of physical education per week, a move opposed by sports and prevention organisations. For Burkhardt, it is crucial to “maintain a high level of swimming skills, meaning that all children should have access to swimming lessons”.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg/ds