Migrant and refugee movements through the Central Mediterranean sea - Joint Annual Overview 2023

UNHCR and IOM Joint Annual Overview 2023

In 2023, an estimated 212,100 attempts were reported by migrants and refugees to cross the Central Mediterranean Sea from Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia to Europe. This was a 33% increase compared to known departures in 2022.

Of those who attempted to depart in 2023, 71% (151,500) were disembarked in Europe, while 29% (60,600) were rescued or intercepted and disembarked in North Africa (21% in Tunisia, 8% in Libya).

In 2022, more than 2,4005 migrants and refugees are known to have lost their lives or gone missing at sea while attempting to cross to Europe along the three Mediterranean routes (Eastern, Central and Western Mediterranean), an increase of 17% compared to some 2,050 deaths recorded in 2021. Most of those deaths in 2022 (59%) took place on the Central Mediterranean Route.

In 2023, more than 3,105 migrants and refugees are known to have lost their lives or gone missing at sea while attempting to cross to Europe along the three Mediterranean routes (eastern, central and western Mediterranean), an increase compared to more than 2,500 deaths recorded in 2022. 61% of the deaths in 2023 took place on the central Mediterranean Sea. According to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, more than 700 deaths occurred off the coast of Tunisia, more than 680 off Libya and more than 460 off Italian shores. The increasing number and proportion of deaths off the coast of Tunisia is unprecedented in the last 10 years. Notably, more than 1,9008 deaths in the central Mediterranean Sea in 2023 were linked to mass shipwrecks involving the loss of more than 20 lives at sea. However, the real number of dead and missing along these routes is believed to be higher as many incidents go unreported or undetected.