Nearly 8,000 migrants died or went missing worldwide in 2025: UN migration agency

Nearly 8,000 migrants were reported dead or missing worldwide in 2025 while trying to reach safety or seek a better future, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

Maria Moita, director of the agency’s department of humanitarian response and recovery, told reporters in Geneva that the figures showed a worsening global situation.

“More deaths than ever were recorded in Asia, with hundreds of Rohingya people and Afghans among those affected.”

Moita said migration pressures had not eased, but routes had changed because of conflict, climate shocks, labor demands, and policy shifts.

“What we are seeing instead is that routes are changing,” she said. “Some established routes have seen fewer arrivals, but journeys have often become longer, more fragmented, and increasingly dangerous.”

Andrea Garcia of the IOM, for her part, said that there is a decrease in the number last year when compared to 2024, which recorded 9,197 migrant deaths worldwide.

She said the lower figure for 2025 did not necessarily mean fewer people died, but rather reflected the lack of accessible information and the difficulty of verifying many cases.

Garcia added that there were around 1,500 additional deaths or disappearances that the agency believed had occurred but could not confirm with enough certainty to include in the official total.

According to the IOM, the Central Mediterranean Sea remained the deadliest migration route, while deaths in the Bay of Bengal continued to rise for a third straight year. Land routes used by Afghans fleeing Afghanistan were also among the deadliest migration routes, the agency said.