UN: migrants paid up to $509 million to smugglers on sea routes to Europe in 2025, with 3,404 dead or missing

Migrants paid smugglers between $388 million and $509 million on sea routes to Europe in 2025, according to new estimates from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN migration agency, IOM, reported on 21 October 2026. The figures, summarised by UN News, cover the four main maritime corridors into the continent.

Four routes, up to 209,000 people

UNODC estimates that between 190,000 and 209,000 people were smuggled along the four main sea routes in 2025. The Central Mediterranean was the busiest, with 84,000 to 100,400 people attempting the crossing. The Eastern Mediterranean came second, with 48,400 to 51,300 people. UN News describes that route as running from Turkey, Libya and the Middle East towards Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria.

The Northwest African Atlantic route, on which people travel in open boats from the coast of Northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, ranked third with about 33,000 people. The Western Mediterranean, linking North and West Africa with Spain, was last with 24,500.

What the smugglers charged

Prices differed widely. In an IOM survey, almost half of the migrants trying to reach Italy or Malta from North Africa or Turkey reported paying more than $7,500 each. Other routes were cheaper than the Central Mediterranean corridor: on the Northwest African Atlantic route, smugglers received as little as $170 per person.

Lives lost and people turned back

According to the UN, many of those who paid never reached their destination. Of everyone who set out on the sea routes in 2025, 3,404 died or were reported missing, while a further 104,200 people were intercepted at sea and returned.

UNODC stressed that not everyone attempting irregular entry by sea is smuggled. It estimates that 72 to 86 per cent of those departing on the Central Mediterranean route were smuggled, 73 to 83 per cent on the Northwest African Atlantic route, 57 to 90 per cent on the Western Mediterranean and 75 to 90 per cent on the Eastern Mediterranean. “Perpetrators commit smuggling offences to make a profit,” the agency said.

Context

Greece and Cyprus lie at the receiving end of the Eastern Mediterranean route, according to the UN description. Geopolitiki has reported on a deadly sea crossing in an earlier article, Search continues south of Crete after migrant boat disaster. The UN figures above are estimates for 2025 as a whole and do not break the Eastern Mediterranean toll out from the overall total of 3,404 dead or missing.