120 patients from abroad underwent euthanasia in Belgium in last 10 months of 2024
120 patients living abroad underwent euthanasia in Belgium in the 10 months from March to December 2024, according to the Federal Euthanasia Review and Evaluation Committee (FCEE).
These are the first complete euthanasia figures on foreign patients, after the anonymity of the registration document was lifted in March 2024. Before that, patients were not required to state their place of residence in the section visible to the committee.
Most foreign patients were French: 106 or 88.3 per cent. Euthanasia is outlawed in France but has been legal under strict conditions in Belgium since 2002.
Progressive increase
The statistics also include six Belgians who lived abroad, in France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Italy and the US. Two people from the Netherlands and Germany each received euthanasia here, as did one each from Spain, Hungary, Portugal and England.
As these are the first complete statistics, there is no basis for comparison. “We do see that the number of patients coming from abroad for euthanasia is progressively increasing,” says Wim Distelmans, professor of palliative medicine and chair of the FCEE.
According to the committee, the majority of patients from abroad who received euthanasia in Belgium suffered from neurological disorders, tumours or a combination of various chronic and incurable conditions.
Overall, the number of patients undergoing euthanasia in Belgium is riising. In 2024, there were 3,991 cases, an increase of almost 17 per cent on the previous year. Euthanasia represented 3.6 per cent of total deaths, according to data from the Statbel statistics office, compared to 3.1 per cent in 2023.
More than half of the patients had cancer, followed by patients with various chronic and incurable conditions, serious neurological diseases, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Euthanasia for psychiatric conditions and cognitive disorders remains rare.
"We do see that the number of patients coming from abroad for euthanasia is progressively increasing"
In three-quarters of cases, death was expected in the short term. Euthanasia for patients who are not terminally ill is increasing, especially among patients with multiple chronic conditions.
The vast majority of patients experienced both physical and psychological suffering.
The number of Dutch-speaking patients rose by a quarter. At 3,042, they accounted for more than three-quarters of cases. The majority of patients were over 70 years of age, with 43 per cent being over 80. Euthanasia in patients younger than 40 remains rare, with 50 cases in this group.
In one case, the patient was a minor. Since the expansion of the law in 2014, the total number of registered cases involving minors has risen to six.
Lydie Imhoff, a French woman who chose to undergo euthanasia in Belgium in 2024 and allowed journalists to follow her journey. She had been hemiplegic and blind from birth due to a perinatal stroke © PHOTO SIMON WOHLFAHRT / AFP
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