How many irregular border crossings into the EU are detected each year, and on which routes?

Frontex counted 179,921 detections of irregular border crossing into the EU in 2025 (detections, not people; preliminary), against 240,101 in 2024 and 1,822,102 in 2015; the Central Mediterranean Route had 66,551 (36.99%) and the Eastern Mediterranean Route 52,502 (29.18%), and nationals of Bangladesh were the most detected (24,612, 13.68%); Eurostat counted 719,395 third-country nationals found illegally present in the EU in 2025.

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Detections of irregular border crossing into the EU, 2025

179,921

detections of irregular border crossing at the EU's external borders, 2025

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only one source (Frontex), so it cannot be checked against another.

Each source by year: detections of irregular border crossing at the EU's external borders

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	Frontex, Monthly detections of illegal border-crossings (Migratory Map download)
2009	104,503
2010	103,991
2011	140,989
2012	72,382
2013	107,339
2014	282,873
2015	1,822,102
2016	511,047
2017	204,654
2018	149,036
2019	141,741
2020	126,310
2021	202,119
2022	326,217
2023	381,257
2024	240,101
2025	179,921

What this number counts

Counts: Detections of illegal border-crossing on entry between official crossing points (events, not people)
Where: External borders of EU Member States and Schengen associated countries
When: Calendar year, sum of January–December monthly values; 2009-2025. January–August 2026 is left out as incomplete (the whole period combined, not one year)

The figure from Frontex, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (1 source)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
Frontex, Monthly detections of illegal border-crossings (Migratory Map download)Frontex, European Border and Coast Guard Agency · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (Excel file)	179,9212025	Detections of illegal border-crossing on entry between border crossing points at the external borders of EU Member States and Schengen associated countries, reported monthly by national authorities and aggregated by route. One person can be detected more than once. Yearly values are the sum of the twelve monthly values in the file. File "Monthly_detections_of_IBC_2026_10_05.xlsx" linked from Frontex's Migratory Map page (https://www.frontex.europa.eu/what-we-do/monitoring-and-risk-analysis/migratory-map/), monthly data January 2009 to August 2026. The page says "FRAN and JORA data as of October 2026"; the file's Notes sheet says "Source: EUROSUR data as of 20JAN25". January–August 2026 in the same file: 76,778 detections, left out of the series because the year is incomplete. Frontex's press release of 15 January 2026 gave "almost 178 000" for 2025; this file sums to 179,921.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. Frontex states the definition in the file's Notes sheet and lists the zones of each route in its Dictionary sheet. Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official figures of the EU border agency, compiled from monthly reports by national border authorities. Yes: Full count or representative sample. Every detection reported by Member States and Schengen associated countries; crossings that are not detected are not counted. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Monthly detections by route, border type and nationality are downloadable as XLSX. No: No known break or quality problem. Counts detections, not people (Frontex estimated about 1,000,000 persons behind more than 1,820,000 detections in 2015); data are preliminary and revised.	100%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

Frontex 100%

Frontex100%

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Administrative records · 1

No source of these kinds: population register, model-based estimate.

Single source: nothing to check it against
Frontex, 2013: Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013, so its land borders with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina became EU external borders and part of the Western Balkan route. Frontex: the accession "did not affect the movements of migrants across the Western Balkans" (Annual Risk Analysis 2014, p. 38). source
Frontex, 2015: Frontex reported more than 1,820,000 detections in 2015 and estimated about 1,000,000 persons, assuming that all migrants first detected in Greece were detected a second time re-entering the EU from the Western Balkans (Risk Analysis for 2016, p. 6). source
Frontex, 2015: In 2015, 564,864 detections (31.0%) had no nationality recorded ("Unknown" or "Unspecified sub-Saharan nationals"); in 2025, 392. Calculated from the Frontex file. source
Frontex, 2025: Frontex's release of 15 January 2026 gave "almost 178 000" detections for 2025 as preliminary figures; the file of October 2026 sums to 179,921. source
Frontex, 2026: Frontex, 19 October 2026: data for the Western Mediterranean land route for 30 and 31 July 2026 "are under review by the respective Member State and are not yet included". source

Years each source has a figure here

'09'10'15'20'25Frontex

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

Third-country nationals found to be illegally present in the EU, 2025

719,395

third-country nationals found to be illegally present in the EU, 2025

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only one source (Eurostat), so it cannot be checked against another.

Each source by year: third-country nationals found to be illegally present in the EU

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	Eurostat, migr_eipre: third-country nationals found to be illegally present
2008	513,415
2009	498,780
2010	455,150
2011	420,540
2012	394,060
2013	394,855
2014	606,850
2015	2,085,465
2016	924,035
2017	563,825
2018	572,415
2019	628,735
2020	557,760
2021	679,845
2022	1,121,625
2023	1,265,335
2024	918,525
2025	719,395

What this number counts

Counts: Non-EU citizens detected by Member States' authorities and determined to be illegally present under national immigration law, whether they entered illegally or overstayed; each person counted once within the year
Where: European Union, 27 Member States (2020 composition), sum of national counts
When: Calendar year; 2008-2025 (the whole period combined, not one year)

The figure from Eurostat, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (1 source)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
Eurostat, migr_eipre: third-country nationals found to be illegally presentEurostat · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27	719,3952025	Persons found by national authorities to be illegally present, all reasons and all places of apprehension (inland and at the border), all citizenships, ages and sexes; geo EU27_2020. It counts people found inside the country as well as at the border, not border-crossing events, so it is a different measure from Frontex's detections. Fetched from the Eurostat API (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/migr_eipre?format=JSON&lang=EN&geo=EU27_2020&geo=EU28&citizen=TOTAL&age=TOTAL&sex=T); dataset updated 2026-05-12. Eurostat rounds national values to the nearest 5 and computes the EU aggregate from unrounded figures (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/migr_eil_esms.htm).	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. Eurostat publishes definitions and method in its metadata (migr_eil_esms) under Regulation (EC) 862/2007. Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official European statistics compiled by Eurostat from national immigration authorities. Yes: Full count or representative sample. All persons found illegally present by national authorities; people who are never found are not counted. Yes: Raw data downloadable. The series is downloadable through the Eurostat API and data browser. No: No known break or quality problem. EU totals for 2008-2012 are flagged "definition differs"; national practices differ; values are rounded to the nearest 5.	100%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

Eurostat 100%

Eurostat100%

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Administrative records · 1

No source of these kinds: population register, model-based estimate.

Single source: nothing to check it against
Eurostat, 2008: Eurostat flags the EU27 totals for 2008-2012 "definition differs (see metadata)". source
Eurostat, 2021: Regulation (EU) 2020/851 added breakdowns for persons found illegally present (such as reason and place of apprehension); 2021 is the first reference year for the amendments. source

Years each source has a figure here

'08'10'15'20'25Eurostat

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

Detections by route (detections per year, 2009-2025)

Each line is the source that counts most for that group.

Central Mediterranean Route

Eastern Mediterranean Route

Western Mediterranean Route

Western African Route

Western Balkan Route

Eastern Borders Route

Circular Route from Albania to Greece

Black Sea Route

Other

Group	Figure	Year	Trust
Central Mediterranean Route	66,551	2025	63 Moderate
Eastern Mediterranean Route	52,502	2025	63 Moderate
Western Mediterranean Route	18,979	2025	63 Moderate
Western African Route	17,860	2025	63 Moderate
Western Balkan Route	12,526	2025	63 Moderate
Eastern Borders Route	11,044	2025	63 Moderate
Circular Route from Albania to Greece	455	2025	63 Moderate
Black Sea Route	2	2025	63 Moderate
Other	2	2025	63 Moderate

Show every year as a table

Year	Central Mediterranean Route	Eastern Mediterranean Route	Western Mediterranean Route	Western African Route	Western Balkan Route	Eastern Borders Route	Circular Route from Albania to Greece	Black Sea Route	Other
2009	11,043	39,973	6,642	2,244	2,995	1,335	40,250	1	20
2010	4,450	55,688	5,003	196	2,302	1,052	35,297	0	3
2011	64,261	57,025	8,448	340	4,596	1,049	5,269	0	1
2012	15,151	37,224	6,397	174	6,336	1,597	5,502	1	0
2013	45,298	24,798	6,838	283	19,926	1,316	8,728	148	4
2014	170,664	50,834	7,183	276	43,355	1,275	8,841	433	12
2015	153,946	885,386	7,004	874	764,033	1,920	8,932	0	7
2016	181,376	182,277	9,990	671	130,261	1,349	5,121	1	1
2017	118,962	42,319	23,063	421	12,179	776	6,396	537	1
2018	23,485	56,560	56,245	1,323	5,844	1,029	4,550	0	0
2019	14,003	83,333	23,969	2,718	15,127	642	1,944	2	3
2020	35,673	20,280	17,370	24,087	26,918	615	1,365	0	2
2021	67,724	22,793	18,466	22,351	61,618	8,075	1,092	0	0
2022	105,561	38,690	15,134	15,463	144,118	6,332	696	213	10
2023	158,026	61,234	16,877	39,673	99,002	5,748	651	41	5
2024	66,855	69,948	17,057	46,820	21,525	17,346	548	0	2
2025	66,551	52,502	18,979	17,860	12,526	11,044	455	2	2

Detections by nationality, top 10 in 2025 (detections per year, 2009-2025)

Each line is the source that counts most for that group.

Bangladesh

Egypt

Afghanistan

Sudan

Algeria

Ukraine

Eritrea

Mali

Somalia

Morocco

Group	Figure	Year	Trust
Bangladesh	24,612	2025	63 Moderate
Egypt	18,543	2025	63 Moderate
Afghanistan	16,417	2025	63 Moderate
Sudan	14,204	2025	63 Moderate
Algeria	12,225	2025	63 Moderate
Ukraine	10,348	2025	63 Moderate
Eritrea	8,897	2025	63 Moderate
Mali	7,439	2025	63 Moderate
Somalia	7,159	2025	63 Moderate
Morocco	6,972	2025	63 Moderate

Show every year as a table

Year	Bangladesh	Egypt	Afghanistan	Sudan	Algeria	Ukraine	Eritrea	Mali	Somalia	Morocco
2009	551	564	14,539	194	4,487	136	2,228	728	9,115	1,710
2010	1,647	916	25,918	380	8,763	145	1,439	52	4,619	1,959
2011	4,923	2,223	22,994	1,037	6,157	124	1,572	2,602	3,011	3,780
2012	5,417	1,482	13,169	202	5,479	109	2,604	657	5,038	2,122
2013	1,034	2,872	9,494	488	3,299	152	11,298	2,887	5,624	1,365
2014	4,527	4,691	22,132	3,552	973	154	34,586	10,567	7,675	3,085
2015	13,098	3,208	267,480	9,661	3,331	158	40,349	6,526	17,694	12,966
2016	9,445	4,873	54,366	9,515	5,140	208	21,349	10,270	8,244	6,836
2017	9,384	1,254	7,576	6,325	7,443	169	7,304	7,789	3,332	11,279
2018	2,043	709	12,666	2,128	6,101	113	3,903	11,728	1,537	13,498
2019	2,254	996	34,154	1,907	5,314	93	655	748	3,297	8,020
2020	5,426	1,519	10,140	1,853	12,987	87	1,006	828	2,173	17,594
2021	9,208	9,221	16,753	2,487	13,702	112	2,735	1,786	3,604	16,482
2022	17,101	21,960	35,590	2,200	9,420	5,148	2,826	1,944	3,576	14,760
2023	14,233	12,715	20,037	7,186	7,317	4,579	6,039	12,068	4,032	16,136
2024	15,786	11,922	18,894	4,284	11,590	14,503	4,842	19,224	3,478	9,635
2025	24,612	18,543	16,417	14,204	12,225	10,348	8,897	7,439	7,159	6,972

Each line is the source that counts most for that group.

Bangladesh

Egypt

Afghanistan

Sudan

Algeria

Ukraine

Eritrea

Mali

Somalia

Morocco

Group	Figure	Year	Trust
Bangladesh	13.68	2025	63 Moderate
Egypt	10.31	2025	63 Moderate
Afghanistan	9.12	2025	63 Moderate
Sudan	7.89	2025	63 Moderate
Algeria	6.79	2025	63 Moderate
Ukraine	5.75	2025	63 Moderate
Eritrea	4.94	2025	63 Moderate
Mali	4.13	2025	63 Moderate
Somalia	3.98	2025	63 Moderate
Morocco	3.88	2025	63 Moderate

Show every year as a table

Year	Bangladesh	Egypt	Afghanistan	Sudan	Algeria	Ukraine	Eritrea	Mali	Somalia	Morocco
2009	0.53	0.54	13.91	0.19	4.29	0.13	2.13	0.7	8.72	1.64
2010	1.58	0.88	24.92	0.37	8.43	0.14	1.38	0.05	4.44	1.88
2011	3.49	1.58	16.31	0.74	4.37	0.09	1.11	1.85	2.14	2.68
2012	7.48	2.05	18.19	0.28	7.57	0.15	3.6	0.91	6.96	2.93
2013	0.96	2.68	8.84	0.45	3.07	0.14	10.53	2.69	5.24	1.27
2014	1.6	1.66	7.82	1.26	0.34	0.05	12.23	3.74	2.71	1.09
2015	0.72	0.18	14.68	0.53	0.18	0.01	2.21	0.36	0.97	0.71
2016	1.85	0.95	10.64	1.86	1.01	0.04	4.18	2.01	1.61	1.34
2017	4.59	0.61	3.7	3.09	3.64	0.08	3.57	3.81	1.63	5.51
2018	1.37	0.48	8.5	1.43	4.09	0.08	2.62	7.87	1.03	9.06
2019	1.59	0.7	24.1	1.35	3.75	0.07	0.46	0.53	2.33	5.66
2020	4.3	1.2	8.03	1.47	10.28	0.07	0.8	0.66	1.72	13.93
2021	4.56	4.56	8.29	1.23	6.78	0.06	1.35	0.88	1.78	8.15
2022	5.24	6.73	10.91	0.67	2.89	1.58	0.87	0.6	1.1	4.52
2023	3.73	3.34	5.26	1.88	1.92	1.2	1.58	3.17	1.06	4.23
2024	6.57	4.97	7.87	1.78	4.83	6.04	2.02	8.01	1.45	4.01
2025	13.68	10.31	9.12	7.89	6.79	5.75	4.94	4.13	3.98	3.88

About this data

Every source on this page (2)

Who is behind the sources

100% International body

Each publisher, its funding and its own description

Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) · International bodyFunding: EU budget; Frontex is an agency of the European Union. sourceIn its own words: “…supports EU Member States and Schengen-associated countries in the management of the EU’s external borders…” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
Eurostat · International bodyFunding: EU budget; Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. The gender-based violence survey was run with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), also EU-funded. sourceIn its own words: “Our mission is to provide high-quality statistics and data on Europe.” source, retrieved 2026-10-27

Frontex, Monthly detections of illegal border-crossings (Migratory Map download)Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) (international body) · Administrative recordsUsed for 30 numbers; counts toward 30. Years 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Data (Excel file)
Eurostat, migr_eipre: third-country nationals found to be illegally presentEurostat (international body) · Administrative recordsUsed for 1 number; counts toward 1. Years 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Open the publisher's page

Why the numbers differ (4)

Frontex counts detection events at the external border, on entry between official crossing points. Eurostat counts people whom national authorities found to be illegally present, inside the country or at the border, including people who entered legally and overstayed, and counts each person once within the year.
One person can appear more than once in Frontex's count: for 2015, Frontex reported more than 1,820,000 detections and estimated about 1,000,000 persons, assuming that everyone first detected in Greece was detected again re-entering the EU from the Western Balkans (Risk Analysis for 2016, p. 6). The file shows 885,386 detections on the Eastern Mediterranean route and 764,033 on the Western Balkan route that year. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
In 2024, Eurostat counted 918,525 third-country nationals found illegally present in the EU, of whom 337,775 were apprehended in the external border area (Eurostat's category); Frontex counted 240,101 border-crossing detections that year. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Frontex revises its data: its release of 15 January 2026 gave "almost 178 000" detections for 2025, while the file of October 2026 sums to 179,921. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

Common mistakes (4)

Reading Frontex detections as the number of people who entered the EU irregularly. Frontex says the data are "detections of illegal border-crossing rather than the number of persons", and that there is "no EU system in place capable of tracing each person's movements". (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Adding the Frontex and Eurostat figures together, or treating them as two estimates of one number: one counts border-crossing events, the other people found illegally present.
Counting the English Channel figures in Frontex press releases as entries: they are detections on exit towards the United Kingdom and are not in the entry file used here. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Comparing a part-year total for 2026 with full calendar years. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

Context (6)

Sources considered and not used (5)

Frontex press-release totals: Rounded and preliminary ("almost 178 000" for 2025, "just over 91 000" for January–September 2026); the page uses the monthly file, which Frontex updates. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Frontex detections for September 2026: The file linked from the Migratory Map on 27 October 2026 ends in August 2026; the year is incomplete in any case. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Frontex detections on exit towards the United Kingdom (English Channel): These are attempts to leave the EU, not entries, and are published separately from the entry file.
Eurostat EU28 aggregate (including the United Kingdom): Only published for part of the period; the page uses the EU27 (2020 composition) aggregate, which covers every year. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Eurostat persons found illegally present by reason and place of apprehension (EU totals): Collected only from reference year 2021, and the EU totals are missing for most categories in recent years. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

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Cite as: RealStats, “How many irregular border crossings into the EU are detected each year, and on which routes?”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page. Scores use formula version 1.0.
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How many irregular border crossings into the EU are detected each year, and on which routes?

Detections of irregular border crossing into the EU, 2025

Third-country nationals found to be illegally present in the EU, 2025

Detections by route (detections per year, 2009-2025)

Detections by nationality, top 10 in 2025 (detections per year, 2009-2025)

Share of detections by nationality, top 10 in 2025 (% of all detections, 2009-2025)

About this data

Who is behind the sources