Sharp decline in illegal migration recorded at EU borders

The number of detected illegal crossings of the European Union's external borders in January–July 2026 fell by 37% compared to the same period last year. Over the seven months, border services recorded about 61,000 such crossings.

This is evidenced by preliminary data from the European agency Frontex.

The decrease occurred on most major migration routes. The busiest remained the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Mediterranean: together they accounted for about 60% of all detected illegal entries to the EU.

Via the eastern part of the Mediterranean, 20,232 crossings were recorded in the first seven months of the year. This is 28% less than a year earlier, when the figure was 28,068.

The flow along the Central Mediterranean route shrank even more noticeably. There, Frontex registered 16,454 crossings compared to 36,656 in January–July 2025 — a drop of 55%. Libya remains the main country of departure on this direction.

The steepest decline among major routes occurred on the West African route, which links the coast of West Africa with the Canary Islands. The number of detected crossings fell by 60% — from 11,575 to 4,682.

On the Western Balkan route, 4,910 cases were recorded — 26% fewer than in the same period of 2025. On the EU's eastern land border, the figure dropped even more, by 44%, to 3,209 crossings.

The exception was the Western Mediterranean route. This is the only major direction where Frontex is still recording an increase: the number of crossings rose by 37%, from 8,175 to 11,217. Of these, 8,648 cases involved the sea route. Another 2,569 land crossings were accounted for based on data up to the end of June.

Separately, the agency monitors attempts to reach the United Kingdom from the European Union across the English Channel. Over seven months, 22,469 attempts and successful crossings were recorded — 46% fewer than last year's 41,647. These data are not included in the overall EU entry statistics, as they involve departure from the European Union territory.

Frontex attributes the overall reduction in migration flow to several factors, including EU cooperation with partner countries and preventive measures in the states from which migrants depart for Europe. The agency currently has about 3,800 personnel deployed to support national border services on the EU's external borders.

However, the published statistics do not yet account for the extraordinary events on the border of Spanish Ceuta in late July. Therefore, the final figures may change after additional data are processed.

Frontex also emphasizes that the figures refer to the number of detected border crossings, not unique individuals. One person may appear in the statistics several times if they crossed the EU's external border in different places or at different times. The data are based on preliminary EUROSUR information and assessments available to the agency as of August 4, 2026.

The trend continues the decline recorded at the end of last year. Previously, Kurs reported that in 2025 the number of detected illegal crossings of the EU's external borders decreased by 26% to nearly 178,000 cases.