The United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Tuesday that approximately 7,900 people died or went missing on migration routes worldwide in 2025, pushing the cumulative toll since 2014 beyond 80,000. The agency's Missing Migrants Project has now recorded over 80,000 deaths and disappearances over the past eleven years, a figure the IOM describes as the absolute minimum estimate.
In a statement, the IOM stressed that these numbers represent only the lower bound of the true scale of the crisis. 'While these figures represent only the lowest boundary of the true number of affected people, they nonetheless underscore the need for urgent action to end migrant deaths and address the complex needs of families left behind,' the agency said.
Shifting Routes and Persistent Risks
The 7,904 deaths and disappearances documented in 2025 mark a decline from the record 9,200 recorded in 2024. However, the IOM cautioned that this decrease does not signal an improvement in safety. '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 agency noted.
In Europe, overall arrivals fell, but the composition of migrant flows shifted significantly. Bangladeshi nationals became the largest group arriving, while Syrian arrivals dropped following political and policy changes in the region. The IOM recorded some 3,400 deaths and disappearances on sea routes to Europe, including 1,330 on the central Mediterranean route and more than 1,200 on the Western Africa/Atlantic route to Spain's Canary Islands.
In the Americas, northbound movements along the Central American route dropped sharply compared to 2024. Maria Moita, the IOM's humanitarian response and recovery director, attributed this to 'the great change in migration policies by the US administration and the closure of the southern border.' The number of deaths on that route fell, but the agency cited a lack of data from the United States and Mexico, as well as reduced capacity due to funding cuts.
The Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea saw nearly 900 deaths and disappearances in 2025, a route used almost exclusively by Rohingya refugees. The IOM called it 'the deadliest year on record for this route.'
'Routes are shifting in response to conflict, climate pressures and policy changes, but the risks are still very real,' said IOM chief Amy Pope. 'Behind these numbers are people taking dangerous journeys and families left waiting for news that may never come.'
The IOM highlighted that at least around 340,000 family members are estimated to have been directly affected by the missing migrant crisis since 2014. These families endure severe psychological, social, legal, and economic consequences from the unresolved disappearance of a relative. 'Sustained political will is needed to save lives on migration routes worldwide and make visible the families most impacted by these preventable losses,' the agency said.
The report comes amid ongoing debates in the European Union over migration policy, including discussions on external return hubs, as EU lawmakers clash over external migration return hubs. The IOM's data underscores the human cost of restrictive policies that push migrants toward more dangerous routes.
