Netherlands: Euthanasia Accounts for More Than 5% of Deaths in 2023

In the annual report for 2023, published on April 4, the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees (RTE) showed an increase of 4% in euthanasias in the Netherlands compared to 2022. It’s important to remember that in this country, the term “euthanasia” covers lethal injection and assisted suicide. The 9,068 deaths represent 5.4% of the total deaths.

The Netherlands Times claims to refer to declared deaths by euthanasia, because the studies indicate that around 20% of euthanasia deaths are not recorded.

The report points to a 20% increase in euthanasia for people suffering from psychiatric problems. In 2022, 115 people were euthanized for this reason, and 138 in 2023, 1.5% of the total number of euthanasias. However, only 10% of requests for this reason were actually accepted.

“The majority do not correspond to the legal framework,” explains Gerty Casteelen, one of the five psychiatrists employed by the center. To access euthanasia, the patient must be suffering from “unbearable sufferings,” “without the prospect of improvement.” 

So, in 2019, a patient believed to be suffering from psychotic hallucinations for eight years had requested to be euthanized. Placed in the care of the psychiatrist designated to give the medical opinion, he improved after two days of treatment: the diagnosis had been erroneous...

Among the people who resorted to euthanasia in 2023, 9.6% of them were age 60 or over. While the center received 322 requests for euthanasia from people aged 18 to 30, an increase of 50% compared to 2022, in total, 40 requests were validated for people in this age bracket.

Around 90% of people euthanized suffered from cancer, nervous system problems, cardiovascular illnesses, lung disease, or a “combination of pathologies.”

Finally, in five cases, the RTE claimed that the regulations concerning euthanasia had not been respected. An investigation must be carried out. Everywhere that euthanasia has been introduced in the world, the numbers inevitably increase from year to year.