Statistics: UK drowning fatalities by age and sex

STATISTICAL BULLETIN

The following data has been compiled and produced by the UK Water Accident and Incident Database ("UK WAID") in their annual reports. In this bulletin, the data has been collated into multi-year summaries. 

Total number of UK drowning fatalities

• Between 2011-2022, 2,970 males and 604 females died from drowning in UK waters.  
• 23% of UK drowning fatalities between 2011-2022 occurred at the ages of 25-59, more than double the number (7%) that drowned between the ages of 0-24. 
• In 2022, those aged 20-24 were the most likely to drown, accounting for 4% of all drownings, followed by those aged 55-59. 
• Older adults over 60 made up 15% of all drownings between 2011-2022, three times the number that drowned aged 0-14. 
• Between 2011-2022, five times as many males aged 25-59 (1,406) died from drowning compared to 265 females of the same age. 
• The widest gap between drowning in males and females was in those aged 60+, where ten times as many males drowned compared to females of the same age. 
• Older adults aged 60+ accounted for close to one-third (32%) of all female drownings between 2011-2022. 
• Almost half (47%) of all male drownings between 2011-2022 occurred between ages 25-59. 
• At every age, more males drown than females. 
• The greatest reduction in drowning fatalities between 2013 and 2020 has been in early childhood.  

UK drowning injury rate adjusted for population size

• Between 2011-2022, the largest injury rate reduction adjusted by population size involved those aged 90+, with a reduction of -1.29 per 100,000. The second largest reduction was in those aged 60-64, with a reduction of -1.03, closely followed by those aged 50-54 at -0.99 per 100,000 people. 
• Those aged 0-9 have the lowest injury rate of 0.08, followed by those 10-14 at 0.30 per 100,000 people. 
• The greatest reduction in the drowning injury rate for males is in those aged 60+ at -1.30 per 100,000 people. For females, the greatest reduction has been in those aged 25-59 at -0.27. 
• In 2022, the highest drowning injury rate amongst females was in older adults aged 60+ at 0.24 per 100,000. In males, it was in those aged 15-24 at 0.90 per 100,000.  
• Men have the highest drowning injury rate at every age, between 0.24-0.90 per 100,000. The drowning injury rate for females is between 0.07-0.24 per 100,000. 
• Eleven men aged 15-24 will drown for every female drowning of the same age. Three boys aged 0-14 will drown for every female drowning of the same age. 
• The drowning injury rate for females exceeded that of males only once across all age groups between 2011-2022. In 2020, the drowning injury rate for females aged 0-14 stood at 0.09 per 100,000 compared with 0.08 per 100,000 for males of the same age. 
• The only age category to experience a higher drowning incident rate in 2019-2021 compared with 2011-2013 was females aged 15-24, with a rate increase of 0.05 per 100,000. 
• The smallest drowning injury rate reduction in 2019-2021 compared with 2011-2013 was -0.17 per 100,000 for those aged 10-14. 

References 

UK Water Safety Forum. 2009-20. Annual reports and data. Available at: https://www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk/waid/annual-reports-and-data accessed 8th February 2022. 

Citation. Jacklin, D. 2023. UK statistics for drowning fatalities by age. Water Incident Research Hub, 6th February 2022; updated 2 July.