Source: Radio New Zealand
Piha Beach. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Seventy-eight people lost their lives to drowning in 2025, slightly more than the year before but below the 10-year average.
Water Safety NZ’s latest Drowning Prevention Report, released Thursday, said drowning remained “New Zealand’s leading recreational killer”. More than half of those who drowned were alone, it said – 55 percent.
“When you are by yourself and unexpectedly get into trouble in the water, the margin for survival disappears,” Water Safety chief executive Glen Scanlon said.
“Changing adult behaviour remains one of the biggest challenges in drowning prevention, particularly among adult males.”
In the past decade, about three-quarters of all drowning deaths where the person was by themselves were men.
Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty accounted for 51 of the 78 deaths.
The total figure of 78 was four higher than 2024’s toll, but eight fewer than the 10-year average of 1.67 deaths per 100,000. In the 1980s it was as high as five per 100,000.
Water Safety NZ said this improvement was at risk, with ACC ending funding for water-safety training for children.
“Our long-term goal is to make sure at least 60 percent of all school-aged children have access to quality water safety programmes,” Scanlon said, wth Water Safety NZ investigating alternative funding for courses.
“About 150,000 children miss out now. Protecting our next generation of New Zealanders with water safety skills and knowledge is fundamental to preventing drowning.”
The report said while youth drowning rates were dropping, there were increases for older men and Asian New Zealanders.
“Māori and Pasifika communities continue to be over-represented in the statistics,” Water Safety NZ said.
About 12 lives a year would be saved, it said, if lifejackets were made mandatory on all watercrafts as a bill that would do that makes its way through Parliament.
“New Zealand’s drowning rate is improving, but preventable deaths remain unacceptably high,” Scanlon said.
“With legislation, education and behaviour change aligned, our country has a rare opportunity to significantly reduce future loss of life.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
