99 people lost their lives in 2022 by freezing to death. According to Daniel Krona, a doctor at the National Board of Forensic Medicine in Lund, the trend has increased over the past decade.
It's not that it has fluctuated a bit, but it's a doubling and it's holding steady.
The years 2023, 2022, and 2021 saw more people die from hypothermia than any other year, according to available statistics dating back to 1997. The figures for last year are not quality-assured, but between January 1 and June 30, 2024, 60 people died from hypothermia. The same figure for the first half of 2023 was 54.
Two factors often lie behind people freezing to death: the influence of alcohol and drugs, as well as confusion. However, no analysis of the increase in cases has yet been conducted by the National Board of Forensic Medicine.
The risk of freezing to death increases significantly for people over 65 years old, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare's statistics. The proportion consisting of people over 65 years old has also increased.
