The number of irregular border crossings into the European Union fell by 42% to 166 000 in the first nine months of this year, according to preliminary data collected by Frontex.*
The most significant declines in irregular border crossings were observed on the Western Balkan and Central Mediterranean routes, with a 79% and 64% decline, respectively.
Over 3 000 Frontex officers and staff are deployed across Europe to help manage the EU’s external borders.
Key highlights for the first nine months of 2024:
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 the 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.
* Note: The preliminary data presented in this statement refer to the number of detections of irregular border crossing at the external borders of the European Union. The same person may cross the border several times in different locations at the external border.