A 50% rise in euthanasia cases over three years in Belgium: is death on demand a remedy for old age and dependency?
On 20 March, the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia in Belgium (CFCEE) released the figures relating to euthanasia cases reported in 2025.
The number of euthanasia cases officially carried out last year thus reached a new record: 4,486 cases were reported to the Commission. This figure represents a 12.4% increase compared to 2024, a 51% rise over three years, and has almost doubled in just five years.
Euthanasia now accounts for 4% of registered deaths in Belgium, and this upward trend could accelerate if the reasons given in the euthanasia registration forms are to be believed.
Polypathologies, the second most commonly cited condition after cancer, have increased by 67% in two years and now account for nearly a third of all reported euthanasia cases. More specifically, the proportion of euthanasia cases due to polypathologies among those performed on people who were not at the end of life has literally increased tenfold in five years, rising from 5.9% to 57.3%.
These figures, which have been rising steadily since the decriminalisation of the practice in Belgium, raise profound questions: has old age become a sufficient reason to resort to euthanasia?
Polypathologies: a vague category akin to a weariness of life
In its latest biennial report published in 2025, the Control Commission highlighted this continuous rise in euthanasia cases based on the criterion of polypathology and explained that “this percentage will continue to rise, as polypathology is associated with the ageing process that patients undergo”.
Indeed, according to the Commission, polypathology refers to “a combination of suffering caused by several chronic conditions that are progressing to a terminal stage”. In practice, these conditions may include, in particular, end-stage heart failure, hemiplegia due to a stroke, as well as cognitive impairment, declining eyesight or hearing, polyarthritis or incontinence.
Whilst some of these conditions are life-threatening, they primarily affect quality of life, which explains why, in 2025, more than half of euthanasia cases in this category (57.3%) were carried out even though death was not expected in the short term.
Is the fear of dependency sufficient grounds to end a life?
To understand what justifies euthanasia on the basis of these conditions that do not directly threaten life, one must bear in mind the subjective logic followed by the Control Commission in its assessment of the legality of euthanasia, according to which the patient’s account of their suffering is taken as gospel.
In the case of polypathologies, the chronic progression of the conditions spans several years and can cause significant psychological suffering, according to the Commission. Drawing on the scientific research of Marianne Dees, the Commission reports that “feelings of despair, dependence on care, fear of further deterioration and fear of increased physical suffering are determining factors in requests for euthanasia”.
In this context, it is also understandable that in 86% of all reported cases of euthanasia, both physical and psychological suffering were mentioned simultaneously.
This finding actually highlights the vital need for better support for older people and at the end of life in general, so that weariness of life and fear of dependency do not become sufficient reasons to end a person’s life.
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