More than 7,600 migrants died or went missing in 2025, UN agency says

GENEVA

At least 7,667 migrants died or went missing on migration routes worldwide in 2025, underscoring the global scale of the crisis facing people on the move, the UN migration agency said in its latest report.

"The continued loss of life on migration routes is a global failure we cannot accept as normal," International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope said in the report released on Thursday. "These deaths are not inevitable."

Although lower than the nearly 9,200 recorded in 2024, the decline reflects fewer attempts on dangerous routes, particularly in the Americas, as well as gaps in data due to restricted access and funding constraints, the agency said.

The IOM calls for dismantling smuggling networks, expanding safe migration pathways and strengthening search-and-rescue operations to prevent further loss of life.

Sea crossings remained among the deadliest routes, with at least 2,185 deaths or disappearances in the Mediterranean in 2025. Another 1,214 people died on the Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands. The real toll is likely higher, with many shipwrecks unverified, the agency said.

The agency also reported an alarming start to 2026, with 606 migrant deaths recorded in the Mediterranean as of Feb. 24, even as arrivals in Italy sharply declined.

In Asia, more than 3,000 migrant deaths were recorded, marking the deadliest year on record for the region for the third consecutive year, driven largely by Afghans fleeing conflict.

The Eastern Route also saw a marked increase, with 922 deaths recorded, compared with 558 in 2024. Almost all of those who died on this route in 2025 were Ethiopian, according to the IOM.