More than 1,300 migrants have died or are missing on the Mediterranean sea routes, as tragedies continue despite an overall decline in migrant numbers.
According to Frontex, irregular crossings into the European Union reached 133,400 between January and September 2025, marking a 22% decrease compared to the previous year. Nationals of Bangladesh, Egypt and Afghanistan are among the nationalities that appear most frequently in the reports.
The largest decline was recorded on the West African route, where detections fell by 58%, with only 734 cases in September. A similar downward trend was observed in the Balkans, as well as at the eastern land borders, with a decrease of 47% and 36% respectively.
Elena Khan, a political analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC), attributes the overall decline to multiple factors: “The decline is related to various causes, such as the outbreak or end of conflicts, political uncertainty, closer cooperation on border control, but also weather conditions.”
Khan stressed that the figures should not be taken as an indication of a decline in global population movement. "On the contrary, the number of international migrants has increased since 2020, as have the number of forcibly displaced people. They are simply not heading towards Europe at the same pace as immediately after the pandemic," she said.
Despite a decline on some routes, the Central Mediterranean remains the busiest route, accounting for almost 40% of total crossings in 2025. Libya remains the main departure point, recording a 50% increase in departures compared to 2024. The majority of migrants taking this route come from Bangladesh, Eritrea and Egypt.
On the Western Mediterranean route, irregular crossings increased by 28%, with September recording an increase in arrivals of over 50%. Departures from Algeria accounted for almost three quarters of detections on this route.
The Frontex report says that "Morocco's increased preventive efforts have encouraged more people to seek out smuggling networks in Algeria," adding that cooperation between the two countries has led to a shift of smuggling operations towards Algerian territory.
Despite the decline in crossings, the human toll remains high. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 1,328 people died or went missing on Mediterranean sea routes in 2025. The majority of them were men, while the deadliest route was the Central Mediterranean, with 895 dead or missing, mainly due to drowning.
Many migrants had initially tried to travel legally, choosing the irregular route only when their visa applications were rejected.
"Behind missing migrants stand families and communities seeking answers and struggling to cope with their absence," says the IOM report on Families of Missing Migrants.
