Fewer migrants are reaching Europe by sea but more people are dying, IOM warns

The U.N. migration agency reports that significantly fewer migrants are reaching Europe by sea this year, but more are dying on increasingly dangerous journeys

Significantly fewer migrants are reaching Europe by sea this year, and yet more are dying as people take increasingly dangerous journeys to reach the continent, the U.N. migration agency warned Thursday.

Nearly 60,000 migrants and refugees arrived on European shores in 2026 by Sept. 15, down nearly 40% compared to the same period last year, the International Organization for Migration said. But nearly 2,300 people died or went missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean in 2026, compared to nearly 2,000 in the same period of 2025.

“Nearly every death and disappearance at sea is preventable,” said IOM's Director General Amy Pope, who called on authorities to step up international cooperation to save lives, combat trafficking and provide alternative legal migration pathways. “Behind every number is a human being, a family, a community.”

The Central Mediterranean route to Italy saw the sharpest fall, from more than 48,000 arrivals last year to more than 21,000 this year. Yet 996 people died so far this year, up from 844 in the same period last year.

Arrivals to Greece were down by roughly 5,000 while deaths were up by 47%. Deaths on migration routes to Spain also remained high despite an overall fall in arrivals. In the Ceuta border crisis of July 30 and 31 alone, at least 97 people died on the Spanish side of the border with Morocco, according to IOM.

Still, the agency warned the true death toll is likely much higher as many shipwrecks and disappearances cannot be confirmed and go unrecorded. One of the reasons for this: authorities are less and less transparent about what happens at sea, the AP has found.