In the report of the five regional assisted suicide commissions in the Netherlands the amount of cases of assisted suicide in the year 2017 is specified as 6585. This amount shows an increase of more than 10 percent in relation to the previous year (5856 cases). In comparison to 2010 (3136 cases) the amount has more than doubled. The numbers show a tendency that, according to the organizations, has been present since 2002. In 2017, 89,4 % of all reported cases (5893) were filed by terminally ill patients afflicted by cancer, diseases of the nervous system (like Morbus Parkinson, MS, ALS), cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases or a combination of these conditions. 

The continuous rise in cases of euthanasia is discussed in the 2016 report. It is stated here that the rise in reportings cannot be easily explained. Questions are raised, such as whether the willingness of physicians to report cases of euthanasia has increased or whether physicians have become less reluctant in granting patients’ wishes to die. Furthermore, it is to be examined, whether patients have grown more determined to have their wishes fulfilled and whether the – generally speaking – fortunate circumstance of people growing older in the Netherlands could be a possible explanation for the rise in reportings, as well as whether it could be partially due to the demographic composition of the Dutch population. A comprehensive explanation would have to answer all these questions.