The quality of European bathing waters remains stable
The European Environment Agency (EEA) publishes an annual report on the quality of bathing waters across Europe. According to the latest annual report, covering 2025, bathing water quality from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean appears to remain stable compared with the previous year. Overall, 96% of all monitored EU bathing sites (22,200 sites) met the minimum EU quality standards, while only 1.5% were classified as poor. Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Greece lead the ranking of safe bathing waters, with around 95% of their bathing sites rated as having excellent water quality.
Across Europe, the quality of coastal bathing waters is generally higher than that of rivers and lakes. The assessments are made available by the EEA and the European Commission through an interactive map identifying the safest bathing sites across Europe. In Italy, out of a total of 5,535 monitored bathing sites, 4,972 were classified as having excellent water quality, 340 as good, 104 as sufficient, 72 as poor, and 47 remained unclassified.
Thanks to the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) and other EU water-related legislation, the quality of bathing waters across Europe has steadily improved in recent years. Progress has been driven by more effective monitoring and management practices, investments in urban wastewater treatment facilities, improved wastewater collection systems, and more accurate assessments of cyanobacterial algal blooms, which can pose risks to both human health and the environment.
Europe’s bathing waters remain safe to swim | Press releases | European Environment Agency (EEA)