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France: drowning surveillance in 2026

This dossier follows drowning reports released by Santé publique France, their reporting periods and the limits of annual comparisons.

Last updated : 1 key moments
Lifeguard station at Coussoules beach, March 2021. Archive illustration; no accident in the 2026 report is depicted.
Lifeguard station at Coussoules beach, March 2021. Archive illustration; no accident in the 2026 report is depicted. — Tylwyth Eldar / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ; 18 mars 2021, redimensionnement.

Where things stand

The report published on 29 October 2026 records 1,511 drownings, including 441 deaths, from 1 May to 31 August.

Reported information

France publishes summer drowning report recording 441 deaths

Santé publique France published a report on 29 October 2026 recording 1,511 drownings, including 441 deaths, between 1 May and 31 August. It describes the increase over 2025 as not statistically significant.

Lifeguard station at Coussoules beach, March 2021. Archive illustration; no accident in the 2026 report is depicted.
Lifeguard station at Coussoules beach, March 2021. Archive illustration; no accident in the 2026 report is depicted. — Tylwyth Eldar / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ; 18 mars 2021, redimensionnement.

For the same period in 2025, the agency recorded 1,445 drownings and 416 deaths. The difference cannot therefore be presented as a statistically established trend.

Adults accounted for 58% of drownings and children under six for 27%. More than 80% of cases occurred on days with heatwave alerts, according to the agency. This is a temporal association, which does not by itself demonstrate the cause of every accident. Today’s development is the publication of this retrospective health report.

Sources 3