Close to 8,000 people died or went missing while attempting dangerous migration journeys in 2025, according to a new report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations agency responsible for tracking global migration. The IOM's Missing Migrants Project documented 7,904 deaths and disappearances across the world's migration routes last year, bringing the cumulative total since 2014 to more than 82,000. The agency described the figures as representing "only the lowest boundary of the true number of affected people," warning that funding cuts and restricted access to information have left many cases unverified.
More than four in every ten of last year's deaths and disappearances occurred on sea routes to Europe, with around 3,400 recorded in total. The central Mediterranean remained one of the most lethal corridors, accounting for 1,330 deaths, while the West African Atlantic route to Spain's Canary Islands claimed more than 1,200 lives. Many victims were lost in what the IOM calls "invisible shipwrecks" — vessels that vanish entirely at sea, leaving no trace. In Asia, 2025 was the deadliest year on record for the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea route, with nearly 900 deaths documented, almost all involving Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar or dire conditions in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh. In the Americas, deaths on the Central American route fell sharply, largely due to sweeping policy changes and border closures introduced by the United States administration, though the IOM cautioned that a lack of data from the US and Mexico makes the full picture unclear.
The 2025 figure does represent a decline from the all-time annual high of around 9,200 deaths recorded in 2024. The IOM attributed part of this drop to a genuine reduction in the number of people attempting certain dangerous routes, particularly in the Americas. However, the agency was careful to note that roughly 1,500 suspected cases went unverified due to cuts in humanitarian funding — meaning the real toll could be considerably higher. "2025 was marked by an unprecedented level of aid cuts and restriction of information on dangerous irregular routes, rendering more and more missing migrants invisible," the IOM said.
Shifting geopolitics and climate pressures are also reshaping where and how people move. Arrivals in Europe fell overall, but the composition changed: Bangladeshi nationals became the largest group reaching European shores, while the number of Syrian arrivals declined following political changes in Syria and policy shifts in receiving countries. IOM Director General Amy Pope emphasised that the data reveals migration pathways are transforming rather than disappearing. "Routes are shifting in response to conflict, climate pressures and policy changes, but the risks are still very real," she said.
Beyond the death toll, the IOM highlighted the cascading human cost for those left behind. An estimated 340,000 family members have been directly affected since 2014, facing profound psychological, legal, social, and economic consequences when a relative's fate remains unknown. "These figures bear witness to our collective failure to prevent these tragedies," said Maria Moita, who leads the agency's humanitarian response and recovery department. The IOM called on governments worldwide to demonstrate sustained political will to open safer legal pathways and invest in the data systems needed to identify and respond to the most dangerous routes before more lives are lost.