Data-driven
drowning
insights
and
information.
New Zealand has a high fatal drowning rate compared to other Western nations such as Australia, Canada and the UK. For the past ten years our rate has been 1.68 per 100,000 of population and for 2023 is 1.72. In comparison, Australia's per capita rate is 1.1 and Canada's 1.3.
Last Updated: 02/12/2024

Latest drowning statistics

Up-to-date information on fatal drownings

62

2024 Drowning Fatalities to Date

This is the provisional fatal drowning total for 2024 year to date.

-10 compared to 10yr average
79

This Time Last Year - Drowning Fatalities

Is the number of drownings recorded at the same time in 2023. Note: This includes six drowning deaths due to Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

+9 compared to 10yr average
90

2023 Drowning Fatalities

This is the number of Preventable drowning fatalities in the 2023 calendar year. Note: This includes six drowning deaths due to Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

+7 compared to 10yr average
31

2023 / 24 Summer Drowning Fatalities

01 December 2023 - 29 February 2024.

49

2022 / 23 Summer Drowning Fatalities

01 December 2022 - 28 February 2023. Note: This includes six drowning deaths due to Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

83%

Male Drownings

As a gender split, 83% of 2023 drowning fatalities were male. 17% were female.

Drowning Insights

Drowning Blackspots

Water Safety New Zealand invests in data science to understand more about drowning risks – who, where, doing what, and what goes wrong. Our initiative to use Drownbase™ to identify New Zealand’s top ten blackspots – locations with very high incident and fatality rates – is a significant step forward for prevention and water safety.

Blackspots List
Name
Action
Piha Beach
Muriwai Beach
Bethells Beach
Princes Wharf
Papanui Point
Wellington
Lake Pupuke
Kariotahi Beach
Manukau Heads
Mount Maunganui
Our methodology finds the number of fatal incidents within a two kilometre radius around every locality in NZ since 1999. It wasn't until 1999 that latitude/longitude pairs were first stored in the DrownBase system which previously had only stored the territorial authority where the death occurred.

This means we have 25 year totals for every locality in New Zealand. Choosing the locations with more than 10 fatal incidents leads to ten WSNZ Black Spots.
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Blackspots Map
Drowning Report
2023 Water Safety New Zealand Drowning Prevention Report

Drowning Reports & Data Insights

Data-driven insights are used to support advocacy and reduce preventable drowning, water-related injury and hospitalisations.Detailed data enables identification of trends, high-risk areas, and vulnerable groups to target interventions. Quarterly snapshots and other activity-focused data will be published regularly.

Data News & Insights

Latest news, media, and quick reads related to data, research, and insights from Water Safety New Zealand.

Contact us

Requesting Drownbase™ Data

Comprehensive data is available in published reports. If you have a data request not covered by publicly available information, please email us:
Contact us

Media Enquiries

We actively seek opportunities to work with all media organisations. Please email us if you want to help save lives. 
Drowning Insights

Drownbase™

DrownBase™ contains records of all drowning deaths that have occurred in New Zealand’s waterways since 1 January 1980.​ DrownBase™ also records all water-related hospitalisations requiring a stay in hospital since 2003 and categorises them in a variety of ways.

Open Data Sets
Name
Period Begin
Period End
Action
2018 - 2022 Open Data Set
1 Jan 2018
31 Dec 2022
If you have a data request not covered by publicly available information, please email us: wsnz@watersafetynz.org.nz

We need to prioritise requests based on our capacity.
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Quarterly drowning data for Wai Ora organisations
Name
Period Begin
Period End
Action
Q3 2024
July
September
The data ‘periodic table’ organises drowning incidents by variables such as age, ethnicity, activity, and environment.

This report provides a clear and comprehensive picture of the factors contributing to drownings. Data representation of this form increases the ability of Water Safety New Zealand and our delivery partners to tailor interventions to specific groups most at risk.
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