EU bathing water report: German lakes and coasts rank seventh, three sites fall short

Europe's beaches, lakes and rivers remain overwhelmingly safe for swimming, according to the European Environment Agency's annual bathing water report published on Tuesday. The assessment, based on 2025 monitoring data from 22,289 locations across the 27 EU member states plus Albania and Switzerland, shows 85 percent of sites earned an "excellent" rating and 96 percent met at least the EU's minimum quality standards. Only 1.5 percent were classified as poor.

Germany's performance

German waters improved slightly from the previous year, with 90.9 percent of nearly 2,300 monitored sites achieving excellent status. That places Germany seventh out of 29 countries, up one rank from the last report. Only three locations were rated poor: the Schießtal bathing lake and Metzisweiler Weiher in Baden-Württemberg, and the northern section of Lake Riem in Bavaria. Another 26 sites were deemed sufficient and 136 good.

This summer we can all reap the benefits of good implementation of EU bathing water rules, thanks to which a vast majority of our waters are clean enough to bathe in.

Country rankings

Cyprus and Greece top the list, followed by Bulgaria, Austria, Luxembourg and Denmark. Austria reached 96.5 percent excellent inland waters, leading that category ahead of Finland and Denmark. Switzerland landed mid-table at 84.4 percent. At the other end, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Estonia and Albania all recorded excellent ratings below 70 percent. France saw 74.4 percent excellent, while 3.3 percent of its sites were poor, one of the highest shares in the EU after Estonia (4.5 percent) and the Netherlands (4.1 percent).

Coastal vs inland

Coastal waters continue to outperform inland sites. Around 89 percent of EU coastal locations were rated excellent, compared with 78 percent of lakes and rivers. Rivers present a particular challenge: only 47 percent of designated river bathing spots achieved the top grade. The Spree Lagoon in Brandenburg was highlighted as a success story, improving from poor to good after targeted pipe repairs and improved wastewater treatment.

Long-term progress

The steady improvement over recent decades is attributed largely to reductions in untreated or partially treated sewage discharges. Nutrient pollution in the Spree catchment has nearly halved since the early 1990s. Permanent bathing bans or advisories are required for sites that remain poor for five consecutive years, a measure affecting 16 locations in France and others in Italy and the Netherlands.