Why Child Drownings Are Rising in Portugal

Foreign residents arriving from countries where water-safety drills start in kindergarten may be surprised to learn that Portugal has seen a sharp uptick in drownings of minors just as tourism and expatriate numbers reach new highs. 55 children and teenagers died between 2020 and 2023 alone, according to the Association for the Promotion of Child Safety (APSI), and preliminary hospital reports add another dozen incidents in 2024. The figures break with a two-decade decline and place the Atlantic nation in the uncomfortable position of recording nearly twice as many fatal aquatic accidents among youngsters as the pre-pandemic European Union average.

Why the trend has turned upward

Public-health researchers point to a cocktail of factors: lockdowns that delayed swimming lessons, a boom in private rental villas with unfenced pools and a persistent belief that an adult “within earshot” is enough supervision. Catarina Queiroga, an epidemiologist at the University of Porto who advises the International Life Saving Federation, notes that drownings happen “in silence and in less than 30 seconds,” a reality often underestimated by newcomers used to louder distress signals.

Where and when tragedies strike

Almost one third of the deaths in the past four years occurred in back-garden or holiday-home pools, most often in the early afternoon when parents step inside to fetch snacks. Rivers and reservoirs accounted for another sizable share, particularly among adventurous preteens searching for relief from summer heat in the interior districts. Beaches, despite their notoriety, ranked slightly lower thanks to lifeguard coverage—yet rip-current incidents among 10- to 14-year-olds still spiked in July and August, the very months many expatriate families schedule seaside holidays.

The age and gender profile

Data compiled by the National Statistics Institute show two clear risk groups. Toddlers under five, who have no sense of danger, make up roughly one in three fatalities. At the opposite end, teenagers between 15 and 19—predominantly boys—account for nearly half, often after cliff jumps or nocturnal swims. The pattern mirrors international research, but Portugal’s numbers are higher because, as APSI’s coordinator Dulce Rocha stresses, “we have water everywhere and fences almost nowhere.”

Legal grey zones around private pools

Unlike France or parts of Spain, Portugal still has no nationwide requirement for barriers, alarms or covers on residential pools. Consumer-rights group DECO and the Portuguese Association of Pool Professionals have lobbied Parliament since 2022 for mandatory safety systems, arguing that tourism revenue should fund stronger standards. Draft legislation stalled earlier this year amid concerns over costs to small guest-house owners, leaving municipalities to adopt a patchwork of voluntary guidelines that rarely include enforcement.

This summer’s prevention drive

The annual Safe Bathing campaign, running from 16 June to 30 September 2025, mobilises the National Republican Guard, maritime police and hundreds of volunteer lifeguards. Officers tour rural schools with float-to-survive demonstrations, and car-rental companies have begun slipping multilingual leaflets into glove compartments.

Authorities emphasise constant, arm’s-reach supervision and the simple habit of emptying paddling pools after use, measures that cost nothing yet could have averted many of the 55 deaths on record.

How Portugal compares with its neighbours

Comprehensive EU-wide updates lag by several years, but the most recent EuroSafe review shows Portugal’s overall child accident mortality in 2019 running almost double the bloc’s mean. Spanish regional data from Andalusia and Galicia suggest lower under-18 drowning rates despite similar climates, a difference experts link to earlier swim instruction in public schools and wider lifeguard coverage of river beaches.

Practical advice for expatriate parents

International schools in Lisbon, Cascais and the Algarve now include mandatory water-competency testing, yet gaps remain for toddlers and newly arrived families. Health insurers such as Médis and Allianz provide discounts on certified swimming courses; ask for the aprendizagem aquática infantil packages. For home-owners, mesh fencing kits cost about the same as one month’s pool maintenance and can be installed without planning permission in most councils.

Remember that Portuguese law holds property owners civilly liable for accidents, even when victims trespass, an incentive to invest in barriers beyond the moral imperative.

The outlook

Public-health officials fear that climate change, extending the bathing season well into October, could push the annual fatality average even higher unless regulation and education catch up. Still, experts insist that every single drowning is preventable. For foreign families settling under Portugal’s 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, mastering local water-safety norms may prove as essential as learning basic Portuguese.