Published on: 2026-10-21
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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October 21, 2026 Refugees and migrants
According to a study published on Wednesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the total payments to smugglers for the illegal transportation of migrants along maritime routes to Europe in 2025 amounted to between 388 and 509 million dollars.
The UNODC Monitoring Centre on migrant smuggling has presented updated data on the scale of illegal human transportation along four main maritime routes to Europe in 2025: through the Central Mediterranean, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western Mediterranean, and the Northwest African Atlantic route.
According to UNHCR estimates, in 2025 smugglers transported between 190,000 and 209,000 people along these routes, with the most – from 84,000 to 100,400 people – through the Central Mediterranean.
In second place is the route passing through the Eastern Mediterranean, used by between 48,400 and 51,300 people. Next are the North-West African Atlantic route with about 33,000 migrants and the Western Mediterranean, where around 24,500 people were registered.
At the same time, not all people who tried to illegally enter Europe by sea used the services of smugglers.
According to UNHCR estimates, in 2025 smugglers transported between 72 and 86 percent of people along the route passing through the Central Mediterranean. On the Northwest African Atlantic route, this figure ranged from 73 to 83 percent; on the route passing through the Western Mediterranean, it was from 57 to 90 percent.
As for the Eastern Mediterranean, experts estimate that smugglers transported about 75 percent of the people traveling from Turkey to Greece and Italy. On the route from Libya to the Greek islands of Crete and Gavdos, the share of such migrants ranged from 77 to 90 percent.
Many of the people transported by smugglers in 2025 never reached their destinations: 104,200 were intercepted at sea and returned; 3,404 died or are reported missing.
The average cost of smuggling services varied significantly depending on the route, the migrant’s citizenship, the country of departure, and the travel conditions. For example, smugglers could receive about $170 per person for passage along the Northwest African Atlantic route. At the same time, the transportation cost for the route from Turkey to Italy via the Central Mediterranean could reach $7,500.
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