In which European countries can you take a dip without running any health risks?

Summer is (finally) here and the holidays, promises of swimming and other water activities, are fast approaching. However, each year, the European Environment Agency publishes its assessment of the health and environmental quality of bathing water… So what are the best places to “take a dip” in Europe?

In France, a correct score… but below the EU average!

With more than 95% of sites judged to be of “excellent” quality, Austria, Malta, Greece and Croatia come out on top for the quality of bathing water on the Old Continent. In France, approximately 76% of sites obtained this distinction in 2021 (out of more than 3,300 monitored)… a decent score, although it is below the European Union average (85%). In detail, 15% of the remaining sites have “good” quality water, 4% were classified as “sufficient” and 3% “poor”.
In neighboring countries, the proportion of “excellent” quality sites varies from 66% in the United Kingdom (2019 data) to 90% in Germany.

While the results seem particularly bad for Poland, it is important to note that more than a third of bathing sites could not be assessed in this country in 2021, hence the low share of bathing sites. “excellent” quality (less than 50%). Of the bathing waters studied, nearly 71% were still “excellent” – a higher score than the two other countries at the bottom of the ranking, Slovakia (50%) and Hungary (60%).