EEA Report on European bathing water quality: most of them are safe
According to the latest European bathing water assessment for the 2024 bathing season over 85% of monitored locations met the European Union’s most stringent ‘excellent’ bathing water quality standards, while 96% of all officially identified bathing waters in the EU met the minimum quality standards.
The assessment and the interactive map, put together by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the European Commission, highlight for swimmers better managed bathing sites in Europe. The assessment inspects water suitability for bathing, focusing on monitoring bacteria which can cause potentially serious illnesses.
Overall, over 22,000 bathing water sites across all 27 EU Member States, plus Albania and Switzerland were assessed. Italy ensures waters of excellent quality for more than 90% of their bathing sites. Only 1.5% of the EU’s bathing waters were found to be of poor quality.
The quality of coastal bathing waters is generally better than that of rivers and lakes. In 2024, around 89% of coastal bathing waters in the EU were classified as excellent, compared with 78% of inland bathing waters.