Statistics: UK drowning fatalities by calendar month
Feb 08, 2022This statistical bulletin combines drowning fatality rates by calendar month according to the UK Water Incident Database ("UK WAID") with overseas tourist visits, UK resident holiday's abroad, and hours worked by UK employees to build a picture of drowning fatality prevalence rates.
Trends in UK drowning fatalities by calendar month
- July and August (UK summer months) consistently report higher rates of drowning fatalities and constitute 29% of drowning fatalities a year (based on an eight-year average 2013-2020).
- Fatal drowning incidents in July and August have increased from 25% and 29% of annual drowning fatalities across a three-year average from 2013-2015 to 2018-2020.
Table 1: UK drowning fatalities by year and calendar month as reported by the UK WAID.
| Calendar month | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total | % |
| Jan | 29 | 38 | 40 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 25 | 168 | 9 |
| Feb | 19 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 26 | 138 | 7 |
| Mar | 25 | 27 | 23 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 130 | 7 |
| Apr | 32 | 28 | 26 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 148 | 8 |
| May | 36 | 37 | 26 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 18 | 175 | 9 |
| Jun | 27 | 20 | 34 | 17 | 13 | 22 | 10 | 28 | 171 | 9 |
| Jul | 58 | 43 | 46 | 24 | 18 | 25 | 21 | 29 | 264 | 14 |
| Aug | 48 | 29 | 35 | 19 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 235 | 12 |
| Sep | 27 | 24 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 137 | 7 |
| Oct | 22 | 23 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 103 | 5 |
| Nov | 13 | 20 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 117 | 6 |
| Dec | 31 | 23 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 119 | 6 |
Trends in overseas tourists visiting the UK
- UK drowning fatality rates correlate broadly with the July-August peak in visits from overseas tourists.
- UK drowning fatality rates resemble no relationship with UK resident holidays abroad.
Table 2: Tourists who travelled to the UK as published by the ONS.
| Calendar month | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Mean | % |
|
Jan |
2,290,000 | 2,456,000 | 2,640,000 | 2,857,000 | 3,123,000 | 2,734,000 | 2,830,000 | 2,366,250 | 6.4 |
| Feb | 2,019,000 | 2,186,000 | 2,281,000 | 2,514,000 | 2,528,000 | 2,573,000 | 2,372,000 | 2,059,125 | 5.5 |
| Mar | 2,245,000 | 2,405,000 | 2,615,000 | 2,827,000 | 3,196,000 | 3,240,000 | 3,129,000 | 2,457,125 | 6.6 |
| Apr | 2,960,000 | 3,054,000 | 3,115,000 | 3,059,000 | 3,731,000 | 3,404,000 | 3,199,000 | 3,217,429 | 7.6 |
| May | 3,152,000 | 3,404,000 | 3,598,000 | 3,672,000 | 3,619,000 | 3,614,000 | 3,438,000 | 3,499,571 | 8.2 |
| Jun | 3,000,000 | 3,379,000 | 3,276,000 | 3,406,000 | 3,662,000 | 3,503,000 | 3,727,000 | 3,421,857 | 8.1 |
| Jul | 3,356,000 | 3,538,000 | 3,689,000 | 3,877,000 | 4,344,000 | 4,172,000 | 4,155,000 | 3,875,857 | 9.1 |
| Aug | 3,639,000 | 3,671,000 | 3,709,000 | 3,854,000 | 4,253,000 | 4,126,000 | 4,418,000 | 3,952,857 | 9.3 |
| Sep | 2,879,000 | 3,096,000 | 3,114,000 | 3,161,000 | 3,302,000 | 3,237,000 | 3,292,000 | 3,154,429 | 7.4 |
| Oct | 3,072,000 | 3,081,000 | 3,522,000 | 3,535,000 | 3,359,000 | 3,491,000 | 3,731,000 | 3,398,714 | 8.0 |
| Nov | 2,481,000 | 2,655,000 | 2,660,000 | 3,258,000 | 3,183,000 | 3,112,000 | 3,121,000 | 2,924,286 | 6.9 |
| Dec | 2,474,000 | 2,412,000 | 2,573,000 | 3,107,000 | 2,780,000 | 3,075,000 | 3,445,000 | 2,838,000 | 6.7 |
Table 3: UK residents who travelled abroad as published by the ONS
| Calendar month | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Mean | % |
| Jan | 5,820,000 | 5,940,000 | 6,200,000 | 6,350,000 | 6,990,000 | 7,450,000 | 7,830,000 | 5,822,500 | 7.36 |
| Feb | 5,770,000 | 5,910,000 | 6,090,000 | 6,760,000 | 7,090,000 | 7,250,000 | 7,680,000 | 5,818,750 | 7.35 |
| Mar | 5,560,000 | 5,580,000 | 6,460,000 | 6,770,000 | 7,250,000 | 7,600,000 | 8,300,000 | 5,940,000 | 7.51 |
| Apr | 5,740,000 | 5,790,000 | 6,330,000 | 6,670,000 | 7,280,000 | 7,650,000 | 8,010,000 | 6,781,429 | 8.57 |
| May | 5,740,000 | 6,350,000 | 6,570,000 | 6,880,000 | 7,050,000 | 7,520,000 | 8,120,000 | 6,890,000 | 8.71 |
| Jun | 5,720,000 | 5,950,000 | 6,390,000 | 6,690,000 | 7,770,000 | 7,690,000 | 7,760,000 | 6,852,857 | 8.66 |
| Jul | 5,820,000 | 6,040,000 | 6,800,000 | 6,750,000 | 7,200,000 | 7,670,000 | 7,690,000 | 6,852,857 | 8.66 |
| Aug | 5,810,000 | 6,070,000 | 6,520,000 | 6,960,000 | 7,210,000 | 7,790,000 | 7,780,000 | 6,877,143 | 8.69 |
| Sep | 5,720,000 | 5,990,000 | 6,450,000 | 7,050,000 | 7,420,000 | 7,430,000 | 7,620,000 | 6,811,429 | 8.61 |
| Oct | 5,470,000 | 6,120,000 | 6,500,000 | 6,870,000 | 7,380,000 | 7,720,000 | 7,520,000 | 6,797,143 | 8.59 |
| Nov | 5,950,000 | 6,330,000 | 6,640,000 | 6,870,000 | 7,350,000 | 7,540,000 | 7,440,000 | 6,874,286 | 8.69 |
| Dec | 5,850,000 | 6,170,000 | 6,770,000 | 6,830,000 | 7,260,000 | 7,330,000 | 7,370,000 | 6,797,143 | 8.59 |
Trends in hours worked by UK employees
- Fewer hours worked broadly correlates with an increase in leisure time, holidays abroad, and the UK drowning fatality peak in July-Aug.
Table 4: Hours worked in the UK as published by the ONS (in millions)
| Calendar month | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Mean | % |
| Jan | 954.30 | 976.10 | 999.00 | 1,012.90 | 1,029.10 | 1,031.70 | 1,052.90 | 1,052.20 | 1,013.53 | 8.41 |
| Feb | 954.50 | 978.90 | 1,000.30 | 1,013.90 | 1,029.30 | 1,031.90 | 1,052.90 | 1,031.80 | 1,011.69 | 8.40 |
| Mar | 953.70 | 983.80 | 1,000.20 | 1,014.70 | 1,029.90 | 1,029.60 | 1,054.10 | 955.20 | 1,002.65 | 8.32 |
| Apr | 955.50 | 988.00 | 997.80 | 1,018.00 | 1,029.50 | 1,032.50 | 1,052.40 | 877.60 | 993.91 | 8.25 |
| May | 957.10 | 988.40 | 999.00 | 1,016.50 | 1,034.80 | 1,033.60 | 1,052.60 | 845.30 | 990.91 | 8.22 |
| Jun | 963.10 | 987.20 | 997.50 | 1,018.30 | 1,033.10 | 1,035.20 | 1,049.80 | 854.20 | 992.30 | 8.24 |
| Jul | 964.30 | 990.20 | 1,000.10 | 1,016.20 | 1,030.60 | 1,041.10 | 1,049.20 | 884.10 | 996.98 | 8.27 |
| Aug | 968.40 | 991.60 | 999.30 | 1,018.90 | 1,024.50 | 1,042.70 | 1,052.60 | 917.90 | 1,001.99 | 8.32 |
| Sep | 970.60 | 996.30 | 1,008.60 | 1,014.80 | 1,024.90 | 1,044.80 | 1,055.70 | 950.40 | 1,008.26 | 8.37 |
| Oct | 971.90 | 996.00 | 1,014.30 | 1,019.10 | 1,028.50 | 1,040.10 | 1,054.10 | 973.40 | 1,012.18 | 8.40 |
| Nov | 970.10 | 997.50 | 1,019.00 | 1,022.90 | 1,026.90 | 1,042.00 | 1,050.10 | 969.20 | 1,012.21 | 8.40 |
| Dec | 970.10 | 996.70 | 1,014.50 | 1,027.00 | 1,034.60 | 1,047.50 | 1,051.10 | 959.00 | 1,012.56 | 8.40 |
References
ONS. 2021. Earnings and working hours. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours accessed 8th February 2022.
ONS. 2020. Travel trend estimates. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/datasets/ukresidentsvisitsabroad accessed 8th February 2022.
UK National Water Safety Forum. 2009-20. Annual reports and data. Available at: https://www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk/waid/annual-reports-and-data accessed 8th February 2022.
Citation. Jacklin, D. 2022. UK statistics for drowning fatalities by calendar month. Water Incident Research Hub, 6th February.
