According to the latest Frontex data, irregular entries at the EU’s external borders have declined significantly over the course of 2025. For the first nine months of 2025, the agency reports a reduction of approximately one fifth in registered irregular border crossings compared with the same period of the previous year (–22 %), amounting to roughly 152,000 recorded cases.
It is important to note that this decrease is not evenly distributed across all routes. It is partly attributable to sharp declines on specific migration paths (e.g. the Western African route, the Western Balkans), while other routes remain stable or show only moderate decreases.
Frontex explicitly frames these figures as evidence of a strengthened European border and migration management system, which increasingly relies on coordinated operations, joint risk analyses, and the deployment of advanced surveillance technologies.
The agency employs these figures both to legitimise its expanding role and to argue for further investments in operational capacities and technological capabilities.
Source: Frontex
