Statistics: UK drowning fatalities by day of the week
Feb 08, 2022This statistical bulletin contrasts UK drowning fatality data as reported by the UK Water Incident Forum (UK WAID) with the leisure time survey data published by the ONS.
Trends in drowning fatalities by weekday
- Reductions in overall drowning fatality numbers have been broadly seen as a largely even reduction spread across weekdays and weekends.
- Based on a three-year average from 2013-2015 and 2018-2020, weekend drowning fatalities have remained stable at 22%.
- The least likely day to drown was a Friday in 5 of 8 years between 2013 and 2020.
Table 1: UK drowning fatalities by day of the week.
| Weekday | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total | % | % Change (2013 vs 2020) |
| Mon | 57 | 49 | 33 | 30 | 35 | 35 | 29 | 33 | 301 | 13% | -42% |
| Tue | 47 | 35 | 35 | 37 | 31 | 36 | 31 | 35 | 287 | 12% | -26% |
| Wed | 50 | 44 | 36 | 36 | 24 | 31 | 29 | 28 | 278 | 12% | -44% |
| Thur | 43 | 40 | 47 | 36 | 20 | 33 | 32 | 40 | 291 | 13% | -7% |
| Fri | 42 | 45 | 43 | 35 | 31 | 31 | 25 | 22 | 274 | 12% | -48% |
| Sat | 73 | 66 | 74 | 52 | 59 | 50 | 46 | 43 | 463 | 20% | -41% |
| Sun | 55 | 53 | 54 | 57 | 53 | 47 | 31 | 53 | 403 | 18% | -4% |
Trends in time spent doing leisure activities
- Men experience more leisure time each week than women.
- Both men and women experience the most leisure time at weekends, constituting 36% and 35% of weekly leisure time respectively.
- An increase in leisure time broadly correlates with an increase in drowning fatalities, suggesting that targeted interventions on leisure activities taking place in or around water may reduce overall numbers further.
- Higher quantities of leisure time for men may go some way to explaining why drowning fatalities are higher in men, but they form only part of the picture.
Table 2: UK leisure time spent by UK males doing leisure activities as reported by the ONS.
| UK drowning fatalities | Leisure time | |||||
| Weekday | 2013 | 2014 | % 2013 | % 2014 | 2015 | % |
| Monday | 46 | 41 | 16% | 16% | 328.9 | 13% |
| Tuesday | 34 | 29 | 12% | 11% | 320.4 | 12% |
| Wednesday | 39 | 30 | 13% | 11% | 320.9 | 12% |
| Thursday | 37 | 28 | 13% | 11% | 324.8 | 13% |
| Friday | 38 | 39 | 13% | 15% | 360.7 | 14% |
| Saturday | 56 | 52 | 19% | 20% | 467.5 | 18% |
| Sunday | 43 | 42 | 15% | 16% | 457.6 | 18% |
Table 3: UK leisure time spent by UK females doing leisure activities as reported by the ONS.
| UK drowning fatalities | Leisure time | |||||
| Weekday | 2013 | 2014 | % 2013 | % 2014 | 2015 | % |
| Monday | 11 | 8 | 15% | 11% | 299.9 | 13% |
| Tuesday | 13 | 6 | 18% | 8% | 288.9 | 13% |
| Wednesday | 11 | 14 | 15% | 20% | 299.2 | 13% |
| Thursday | 6 | 12 | 8% | 17% | 301.2 | 13% |
| Friday | 4 | 6 | 5% | 8% | 319 | 14% |
| Saturday | 17 | 14 | 23% | 20% | 404.4 | 18% |
| Sunday | 12 | 11 | 16% | 15% | 388.5 | 17% |
References
ONS. 2015. Leisure time in the UK. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/satelliteaccounts/articles/leisuretimeintheuk/2015 accessed 7th 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 7th February 2022.
Citation. Jacklin, D. 2022. UK statistics for drowning fatalities by day of the week. Water Incident Research Hub, 6th February.
