Almost 8,000 migrants were reported dead or missing worldwide in 2025, bringing the total since 2014 to more than 82,000, according to a new report from the UN’s migration agency IOM.

And at least around 340,000 family members are estimated to have been directly affected by the deaths, according to the report from IOM’s ‘Missing Migrants Project’.

More than forty per cent of the deaths and disappearances occurred on sea routes to Europe, with many of the victims were lost in “invisible shipwrecks,” the report said.

The West African route northwards accounted for 1,200 deaths, while Asia reported a record number of deaths, including hundreds of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar or misery in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The exact figure of 7,904 dead or missing people represented a fall from the all-time high of 9,197 in 2024, IOM said in the report. But it said that the lower figure was partly due to 1,500 suspected cases that went unverified due to aid cuts.

Since 2014, more than 83,000 migrants have died or disappeared on migration routes, IOM data shows.

Despite declines in arrivals in some   regions, data from IOM’s ‘Missing Migrants Project’ shows migration routes are shifting rather than easing, with risks remaining high along increasingly dangerous journeys.

IOM Director General Amy Pope said migration trends were responding to global conflicts.

“Routes are shifting in response to conflict, climate pressures and policy changes, but the risks are still very real,” Ms Pope said.

“Behind these numbers are people taking dangerous journeys and families left waiting for news that may never come. Data is critical to understanding these routes and designing interventions that can reduce risks, save lives and promote safer migration pathways,” she said.

‘The 2025 Global Overview of Migration Routes’ report says that lower arrival figures in some regions do not reflect reduced migration pressure, but rather changing journeys as enforcement measures, conflict dynamics and environmental stress have altered established pathways.

The report said that in the Americas, northbound movements along the Central American route fell sharply compared to 2024.

In Europe, overall arrivals declined, but the profile of movements changed, with Bangladeshi nationals becoming the largest group arriving while Syrian arrivals fell following political and policy shifts.

In the Horn of Africa, movements towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decreased slightly from 2024 but remained above 2023 levels, while flows from East Africa towards Southern Africa increased late in the year due to shifting labour demands in southern Ethiopia, the report said.

 Along the Western African Atlantic route, arrivals to the Canary Islands dropped significantly after strengthened border cooperation, but journeys have become longer, riskier and more geographically dispersed.

“Across regions, IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix data shows persistent pressures along migration routes. Thousands of migrants were stranded in border areas with limited access to shelter, health care and protection, while returns and relocations increased, placing additional strain on local services and complicating reintegration,” the report said.

 “Together, the findings show that changing routes do not mean reduced harm. As journeys become more fragmented and hazardous, deaths, disappearances and the suffering of families left behind remain a persistent reality,” it said.

Ahead of the International Migration Review Forum in May, IOM is calling for renewed commitments to protect migrants, prevent deaths and disappearances, and better support families affected by migration tragedies.

IOM says the evidence is clear that “fewer movements do not automatically mean safer journeys, and saving lives requires stronger international cooperation and sustained investment in evidence-based responses”.

The report was based on IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Global Overview of Migration Routes and new analysis from the Missing Migrants Project (MMP).

DTM tracks movements, changing routes and conditions along migration corridors through direct field monitoring and governmental data sources, while MMP documents migrant deaths and disappearances using official records, media reports and information from IOM missions worldwide.

The report says that there is evidence that drivers at migrants’ places of origin and policy changes along the routes are reshaping migration journeys, while the human cost of unsafe migration continues to rise.

Read full report: https://www.iom.int/news/nearly-8000-migrant-deaths-recorded-2025-new-iom-data