Although the number of fatal drownings has fallen from 375,000 deaths worldwide in 2000 to 300,000 in 2021, the progress has been uneven. Fatal drownings have decreased by 68 percent in the WHO European Region between 2000 and 2021, but by just 3 percent in the African Region. A high 92 percent of global drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Western Pacific Region and the South-East Asia Region accounted for the greatest number of drowning deaths in 2021, at 84,000 and 83,000, respectively. The Americas and the European regions meanwhile recorded 17,000 and 15,000, respectively. In terms of the rate of drownings per 100,000 people, the African Region had the highest figure at 5.6 per 100,000 population.
In the United States, the WHO estimated drowning rate per 100,000 population is 1.3, which is below the global average of 3.8 per 100,000. In total 4,500 people were estimated to die from drowning in the U.S. in 2021, with drowning deaths most common among 50- to 69-year-olds and 30 to 49-year-olds, at 26 percent, respectively.
