So-called “irregular” entries into the European Union fell by 25% in the first eleven months of 2025 to just over 166,900, according to preliminary data published by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
Frontex said more than 3,500 of its officers are working alongside national authorities across Europe to help safeguard the EU’s external borders.
Frontex said crossings towards the United Kingdom via the English Channel remained broadly stable compared with 2024, with more than 62,200 crossing attempts recorded in the first eleven months of 2025.
The agency reported sharp declines on several key routes. Illegal crossings on the Western African route dropped by 60%, while the Western Balkan route saw a 43% fall. However, Frontex said illegal crossings on the Western Mediterranean route rose by 15%, bucking the overall downward trend.
Frontex described the Central Mediterranean as the EU’s busiest migratory corridor this year, accounting for nearly 40% of all illegal entries. On that route, more than 63,200 arrivals were detected between January and November 2025 – “essentially unchanged” compared with the same period last year.
Libya remained the primary departure point for journeys across the Central Mediterranean, responsible for more than 90% of all arrivals detected on the route, Frontex said. Smaller numbers departed from Tunisia and Algeria.
On the Eastern Mediterranean route, Frontex recorded a 30% drop in illegal crossings to nearly 46,200. Despite that decrease, the agency said the Libya-Crete corridor remained active in November, and that detections on that corridor surged by 260% in the first eleven months of 2025.
For the Western Mediterranean, where overall illegal crossings increased by 15%, Frontex said Algeria was the main driver of migration, accounting for more than 70% of arrivals. The main nationalities registered on that corridor were Algerian citizens and Somalis.
The Western African route – one of the main migratory routes to the EU – recorded the steepest decline, plunging by 60% to just over 16,800 detections, according to Frontex. Most of the people registered on this route were nationals of Mali, Senegal and Guinea.
Across all routes, the most frequently reported nationalities were Bangladeshi, Egyptian and Afghan, Frontex said.
Despite the overall reduction in illegal migration, the International Organisation for Migration estimates that more than 1,700 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea so far this year.
