Frontex Report 2024

Irregular entries into the EU in sharp decline

The European border protection agency Frontex announced on Tuesday that the number of undocumented entries into the EU fell by 38% in 2024. This is the lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic year 2021.

In total, Frontex recorded more than 239,000 irregular entries into the EU last year. The decline in figures is mainly due to a slump in arrivals via the central Mediterranean and the western Balkan routes.

"Despite continued migratory pressure, increased cooperation between the EU and its partners in the fight against smuggling networks has led to a significant decrease in border crossings at Europe's external borders," explained Frontex.

Routes have shifted
However, the number of people crossing the EU's borders with Belarus and Russia increased by 192 percent to 17,000, according to further information. At 69,400, there were also 14 percent more cases of irregular border crossings on the eastern Mediterranean route. This was due to new corridors from eastern Libya, with the migrants mainly coming from Syria, Afghanistan and Egypt.

The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands via the West African route also increased by 18 percent, according to the data. Arrivals reached almost 47,000 last year.