The quality of water in 95.8% and 97.6%, accordingly, of bathing sites throughout Greece and Cyprus is deemed “excellent” according to the updated report released by the European Environmental Agency and the European Commission.
Eva Metis Koutoumanou
The highest share of excellent bathing waters is found in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Austria.
Proportion of bathing waters with excellent quality in European countries in 2023
Bathing water quality in Europe (EU Member States, Albania and Switzerland) in 2023 - Cyprus ranks first while Albania ranks last
Overall, 85.4% of bathing sites were found to be of “excellent quality”, while 96% of officially recognized bathing sites met the minimum quality standards. Only 1.5% were classified as “poor.”
The quality of the water in coastal areas is generally better than that of inland waters, with 89% of coastal bathing waters classified as “excellent” compared with 79% of inland bathing waters.
The assessment, put together by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the European Commission, highlights where swimmers can find safe bathing sites in Europe this summer. It focuses specifically on safety for bathing, through monitoring of bacteria which can cause serious illness in people, rather than general water quality.
The assessment for today’s report is based on the monitoring of 22,081 bathing sites across Europe that were reported to the EEA for the 2023 season. This includes sites in all EU Member States, Albania and Switzerland. It is based on data reported by Member States for the 2020-2023 bathing seasons.
Alongside this year’s Bathing Water Report, the EEA has also released an updated interactive map showing the performance of each bathing site. Updated country reports are also available, as well as more information on the implementation of the directive in countries.
Updated Interactive MAP incl Greece sites here.
More details in EEA website here.
