The 95.8% of the bathing waters in Hellas is of excellent quality according to the latest figures for 2023 published today.

At the same time, the higher percentage of excellent swimming waters is located in Cyprus (97.6), the Croatian (96.7%), and the Austria (96.9%).

The vast majority of bathing areas in Europe met the European Union’s strictest ‘excellent’ bathing quality standards in 2023, according to the latest annual bathing water report. This represents 85.4% of the EU’s popular bathing waters.

96% of all officially recognized bathing waters in the EU met minimum quality standards, with only 1.5% rated as ‘poor’.

The assessment, carried out by the European Environment Agency in collaboration with the Commission, underlines where swimmers can find safe swimming locations in Europe this summer.

It focuses specifically on bathing safety by monitoring bacteria that can cause serious illness in humans, rather than general water quality.

In Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria and Romania, all officially recognized bathing waters met at least the minimum quality standards in 2023.

The swimming quality of coastal waters is generally better compared to inland waters.

In 2023, 89% of coastal bathing sites classified as excellent, compared to just under 79% of inland bathing waters.

Since the adoption of the Bathing Water Directive in 2006, the proportion of bathing waters with poor water quality has decreased over the last decade and is now stable as of 2015.