Bathing sites with excellent water quality in France
France: Bathing sites with excellent water quality was 71.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in France, 1992–2025
Source: European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, bathing sites with excellent water quality in France stood at 71.0%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and down 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, bathing sites with excellent water quality in France peaked at 95.1% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 16.0%, in 1992.
France ranks 17th of 27 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in France, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 16.0% | — |
| 1993 | 31.0% | +94.6% |
| 1994 | 33.5% | +7.9% |
| 1995 | 36.1% | +7.8% |
| 1996 | 50.9% | +40.8% |
| 1997 | 53.1% | +4.4% |
| 1998 | 63.1% | +18.8% |
| 1999 | 57.5% | -8.9% |
| 2000 | 52.5% | -8.6% |
| 2001 | 56.3% | +7.2% |
| 2002 | 60.5% | +7.5% |
| 2003 | 60.3% | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 60.0% | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 62.4% | +4.0% |
| 2006 | 61.3% | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 54.1% | -11.8% |
| 2008 | 95.1% | +76.0% |
| 2009 | 94.4% | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 47.8% | -49.4% |
| 2011 | 53.9% | +12.7% |
| 2012 | 49.0% | -9.1% |
| 2013 | 67.4% | +37.5% |
| 2014 | 70.4% | +4.4% |
| 2015 | 71.9% | +2.2% |
| 2016 | 73.2% | +1.8% |
| 2017 | 74.6% | +1.9% |
| 2018 | 76.9% | +3.2% |
| 2019 | 75.7% | -1.6% |
| 2020 | 74.3% | -1.8% |
| 2021 | 72.3% | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 73.2% | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 72.6% | -0.9% |
| 2024 | 70.6% | -2.7% |
| 2025 | 71.0% | +0.5% |
France compared with similar countries
- France's 71.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 80.0%, 89% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
- France's 71.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 80.4%, 88% of the median. (26 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Bathing sites with excellent water quality in France changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | +94.6% | 16.0% | 31.0% |
| 2008 | +76.0% | 54.1% | 95.1% |
| 2010 | -49.4% | 94.4% | 47.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 42.6% | 16.0% | 63.1% | 8 |
| 2000s | 65.7% | 52.5% | 95.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 66.1% | 47.8% | 76.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 72.3% | 70.6% | 74.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near France
More environment data for France
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.44 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.44 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.427 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.31 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate -3.66 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -3.23 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.1777 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is bathing sites with excellent water quality in France?
- Bathing sites with excellent water quality in France was 71.0% in 2025, according to European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 95.1% in 2008.
- What is the lowest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.0% in 1992.
- How does France rank for bathing sites with excellent water quality?
- France ranks 17th out of 27 countries with data for 2025.
- Is bathing sites with excellent water quality rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this France data come from?
- The figures come from European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Bathing sites with excellent water quality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of bathing water sites in lakes or rivers that are of excellent quality. This means contamination levels of certain bacteria are below a strict threshold.