The number of irregular border crossings into the European Union fell by 43% in the first 10 months of 2024 to 191 900, driven by significant drops on the Central Mediterranean (-62%) and Western Balkan migratory routes (-80%), according to preliminary data collected by Frontex.
Frontex supports national authorities in their border management efforts with 3,000 officers and staff deployed across the EU’s external borders.
Key highlights for the first 10 months of 2024:
- Central Mediterranean recorded a 62% drop (y/y) in irregular border crossings.
- Western Balkans region demonstrated a significant decline of 80%.
- Eastern Land Border saw the highest increase of 195%.
- The top nationalities of irregular migrants so far this year were: Syrian, Malian, and Ukrainian.
The Central Mediterranean route continued its significant downward trend this year. Between January and September, the number of arrivals on this route fell by 64% to 47,700.
The Eastern Mediterranean, which has continued to rise this year, saw an increase of 15% in the first nine months of the year to 45,600. In September, this was the busiest route with the highest number of detections at 6,750, compared with 5,600 detections in the Central Mediterranean.
The number of detections on the Western African route remained exceptionally high in the January-September period, reaching over 30,600, double the figure from the same period of last year.
The number of detections in the Western Balkan route recorded the biggest drop of all the main migratory routes to the EU this year with a fall of 79% to nearly 17 000.
With an increase of 192% to 13,200, the Eastern Land Borders continued to record high numbers of arrivals this year. On the Channel route, the number of detections between January and September increased by 2% to reach 47,514.
