There was a drop in powered boating drowning deaths last year by 83 per cent from the year before. Photo / File
Ten people have drowned in the Bay of Plenty in the past year.
Water Safety NZ (WSNZ) figures released today show there were 66 preventable drowning deaths throughout New Zealand, the second lowest it has been since records began and are down from 91 in 2017.
But the 65 years
and over age group had the highest number of preventable drowning
fatalities over the last three years, totalling 41 deaths in that time.
Preventable drowning deaths continued to be a largely male problem with men making up
72 per cent of all preventable fatalities.
However, the male drowning toll for 2018 is the lowest on record while the female toll is up 20 per cent on the five-year average, but it was still predominantly a male problem.
