Your chances of being bitten by a shark are roughly 1 in 11.5 million per beach visit in the United States. In 2025, the International Shark Attack File confirmed just 65 unprovoked shark bites worldwide, with 9 of those being fatal. To put that in perspective, you’re about three times more likely to drown at the beach than to be bitten by a shark, and vastly more likely to be injured in a car accident on the drive there.
How Many Shark Attacks Happen Each Year
The global number of confirmed unprovoked shark bites has hovered around 60 to 70 per year in recent times. The 2025 total of 65 was slightly above the long-term average. Of those 65 bites, 56 people survived, putting the fatality rate at about 14%. That means the vast majority of people who are bitten by a shark live through it.
The United States leads the world with 25 unprovoked bites in 2025, followed by Australia with 21. The Bahamas recorded 5, New Zealand had 3, and the remaining incidents were scattered across countries like South Africa, Mozambique, Jamaica, and the Maldives, most with just a single bite each. Only one U.S. bite was fatal (in California), while Australia accounted for 5 of the year’s 9 deaths worldwide.
Where Attacks Are Most Likely
Florida is the shark bite capital of the world by sheer numbers. The state recorded 11 unprovoked bites in 2025, none of them fatal. Within Florida, Volusia County alone accounted for 6 of those 11 incidents, or 54% of the state’s total. Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach, typically averages about 10 shark bites per year, so 2025 was actually a lighter year for the area.
California followed with 5 bites, Hawaii had 4, and South Carolina had 2. New York, North Carolina, and Texas each had one. Australia’s bites were far more dangerous: 5 of its 21 incidents were fatal, compared to just 1 death from 25 bites in the U.S. This reflects the different species involved and the remoteness of some Australian beaches, where emergency medical care takes longer to reach.
Research on long-term trends shows that attack rates have roughly doubled over the past 20 years in heavily populated coastal areas like the eastern U.S. and southern Australia. This doesn’t mean sharks are becoming more aggressive. More people are spending more time in the water, which naturally increases the number of encounters.
Which Sharks Are Most Dangerous
Three species are responsible for the overwhelming majority of serious shark bites: great whites, tiger sharks, and bull sharks. These are collectively known as the “Big Three” because they’re large enough to cause severe injury, they have teeth designed to shear flesh rather than simply grip, and they frequently swim in the same shallow coastal waters where people wade, swim, and surf.
- Great white sharks lead with 351 confirmed unprovoked attacks on record, including 59 fatalities.
- Tiger sharks account for 142 attacks and 39 deaths.
- Bull sharks have been linked to 119 attacks and 26 deaths.
Most shark bites from other species are minor. Many of the bites recorded in Florida, for instance, come from smaller blacktip or spinner sharks that mistake a hand or foot for a fish in murky surf. These typically result in small lacerations rather than life-threatening injuries.
Conditions That Raise Your Risk
Certain environmental conditions make shark encounters more likely. Water clarity plays a significant role. Research from the Indian Ocean found that about 65% of shark bites occurred in water with medium turbidity, and another 27% happened in highly turbid water. Only about 8% of bites took place in clear conditions. Murky water makes it harder for sharks to distinguish humans from their usual prey.
Time of day and season also matter. Bite rates tend to peak during afternoon hours and, in some regions, during winter months when certain shark species move closer to shore. Rough surf conditions were present in 97% of cases studied in one research area, likely because churned-up water reduces visibility for both sharks and swimmers. Coral reef habitats accounted for nearly half of bites in that same study, suggesting that areas with abundant marine life naturally attract more sharks.
Surfers face higher risk than swimmers or divers. From below, a person lying on a surfboard closely resembles the silhouette of a seal or sea turtle, which are primary prey items for great white sharks. The splashing motion of paddling can also mimic the movement of distressed fish.
How Shark Attacks Compare to Other Risks
The fear of sharks is wildly disproportionate to the actual danger they pose. In the U.S., your odds of dying from a shark attack in any given year are roughly 1 in 264 million. Your odds of drowning at the beach are about 1 in 2 million, making drowning more than 100 times more likely to kill you than a shark. Lightning strikes, bee stings, and even vending machine accidents all claim more American lives annually than sharks do.
Globally, sharks kill fewer than 10 people in a typical year. For context, humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks per year through fishing and finning. The relationship between humans and sharks is far more dangerous for the sharks.
Do Shark Deterrent Devices Work
Several personal shark deterrent products are marketed to surfers and swimmers, but testing shows mixed results. A study evaluating five different deterrent devices against great white sharks found that only one, an electronic device called the Freedom+ Surf, meaningfully reduced shark interactions. It dropped the rate at which sharks took bait from 96% down to 40%.
The other four products, including popular magnetic shark-repelling bracelets and leashes, showed no statistically significant effect on shark behavior. Sharks interacted with bait at nearly the same rate whether these devices were present or not. If you’re considering a deterrent, electronic devices that emit an electrical field have the strongest evidence behind them, but even the best-performing option still allowed sharks to engage 40% of the time.
Practical Ways to Lower Your Risk
Given that the baseline risk is already extremely low, a few simple habits can reduce it further. Avoid swimming in murky water, especially near river mouths or after storms, when visibility is poor and bull sharks are more common. Stay out of the water at dawn and dusk, when many shark species are most actively feeding. Swim in groups rather than alone, and avoid areas where people are fishing, since bait and hooked fish attract sharks.
Remove shiny jewelry before entering the ocean. The glint can resemble the flash of fish scales. If you see baitfish jumping or birds diving into the water nearby, that’s a sign predators are feeding in the area. And if you spot a shark, leave the water calmly. Splashing and thrashing mimic the movements of injured prey and can trigger a bite response from a shark that might otherwise have ignored you.