New figures show that the proportion of deaths by euthanasia in Belgium has more than doubled in the last five years, reaching four per cent of all deaths in 2025.
Every two years the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia is legally required to release a report recording the number of deaths by this means.
The latest report shows a significant increase in euthanasia cases, rising from 2,445 in 2020 (representing 1.9 per cent of all deaths) to 4,487 in 2025. The figures also show a large jump from 2024 to 2025 - in 2024 the number of euthanasia deaths was 3,991.
Euthanasia was first legalised in Belgium in 2002. While in that year just 235 people made use of the service, since then the total number of deaths via euthanasia has reached 42,000.
Attempts to legalise some form of medically assisted suicide in Britain have tended to emphasis that the practice would only be available to those with terminal illness.
The Belgian figures, however, show that many choose to end their lives even when they are not facing terminal illness. Around a quarter of euthanasia cases last year (1,117) did not involve a person who was expected to die a natural death in the near future.
Again, this represents a huge increase - more than triple. In 2020, the number of such cases was just 311.
The report also found that two people under the age of 18 ended their lives through euthanasia, one in 2024 and another in 2025. It was conceded that some cases of euthanasia had not entirely followed the proper procedures.
The report also found an increase in the number of euthanasia cases for people with dementia, psychiatric disorders or those who were tired of life.
Commenting on the figures, Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of Right To Life UK, said, “It is deeply alarming that in just five years, euthanasia deaths as a proportion of total deaths in Belgium have more than doubled.
"Sadly, Belgium is following a pattern observed in so many jurisdictions where the numbers increase year-on-year.
“It is worrying that such large increases in the number of people ending their lives in this manner have happened, especially for individuals with certain conditions; a 250% increase in the number of people with dementia ending their lives by euthanasia in only seven years is deeply disturbing.
“People suffering from mental or physical health conditions deserve protection and the best possible care, not a pathway to suicide.”
The figures come after attempts to legalise assisted suicide in Britain suffered parliamentary defeats this year. MPs rejected a bill covering England and Wales by 286 votes to 270 in September, following an earlier proposal that ran out of time in the House of Lords.
In March, the Scottish Parliament rejected separate legislation by 69 votes to 57. Both bills would have allowed terminally ill adults with six months or fewer to live to seek medical assistance to end their lives.
