Drowning is a Leading Cause of Death for Children

Drowning is a leading cause of death for children around the world. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), young children are at a particularly great risk due to an inability to properly assess risk and a lack of swimming skills. For older children, experimenting with alcohol and drugs can be a significant risk factor.

According to the WHO, drowning was the third leading cause of death worldwide for 5- to 14-year-olds, behind only road injuries and lower respiratory infections. For children aged 1 to 4 years old, it was the fourth leading cause of death. While for 15- to 29-year-olds it was the 12th leading cause of death.

While drowning is among the top seven causes of death for children aged 5 to 14 around the world, wide disparities exist between regions. In the Western Pacific, drowning is the number one cause of death for this age group, while it is in rank two for the Eastern Mediterranean Region and in rank 3 for the South-East Asia Region.

As the following chart shows, road injuries are another major killer of children, appearing in rank one or two worldwide. Other preventable causes of death that stand out on this chart are how interpersonal violence was one of the biggest killers in the Americas in 2021, as well as self-harm appearing in the top eight for both the Americas and Europe.

July 25 is the WHO World Drowning Prevention Day.