Fatal drowning statistics from the Netherlands – an example of an aggregated demographic profile

INTRODUCTION: Incompleteness of fatal drowning statistics is a familiar problem impeding public health measures. Part of the problem may be that only data on accidental drowning are used and not the full potential of accessible data. METHODS: This study combines cause-of-death certificates and public prosecutor’s court documents between 1998 and 2017 to obtain an aggregated profile. Data are also used as a basis for a trend analysis. RESULTS: The dataset includes 5571 drowned persons (1.69 per 100,000). The highest risk group are persons above the age of 50. Demographic differences are observed between suicide by drowning, accidental drowning, and drowning due to transportation (0.72, 0.64, 0.28 per 100.000) and between native Dutch, and Dutch with western and non-western background (1.46, 1.43, 1.76 per 100.000). Non-residents account for another 12.2%. When comparing the periods 1998–2007 with 2008–2017, the Standard Mortality declines for suicide drowning and accidental drowning among persons with a native Dutch and non-western background. Single regression analysis confirms a decrease of drowning over the full period, breakpoint analysis shows an increase in the incidence of the total number of drowning, suicide by drowning and accidental drowning starting in 2007, 2008 resp. 2012. DISCUSSION: Compared to the formal number of fatal accidental drowning in the Netherlands (n = 1718; incidence 0.52 per 100,000), the study identifies 350% more drowning. Differences in demographic data and the recent increase needs to be explored for public health interventions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-12620-3.