Over 4,400 Child Migrant Deaths Recorded Since 2014, Report Finds

GENEVA/BERLIN — At least 4,414 children died during migration journeys worldwide between 2014 and 2025, though the true figure is likely much higher due to widespread data gaps, according to a report released on 13 October by the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants Project.

The report, supported by the International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC), noted that out of nearly 81,000 migrant deaths and disappearances recorded globally in that timeframe, more than half—44,862 cases, or 55.5 per cent—lacked information regarding age or age group. Consequently, an unknown number of child fatalities remain uncounted.

According to the IOM, this disparity is visible on routes such as the Central Mediterranean, where children represented 19 per cent of arrivals in Italy and Malta in 2024, but only 2 per cent of recorded fatalities on that route.

The report outlines two primary factors contributing to uncounted child deaths: the "missing figure," referring to deaths that go entirely unrecorded, and the "hidden figure," where deaths are documented but lack demographic details identifying the deceased as a child. Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to being misidentified and recorded as adults in official tallies.

Official sources, including law enforcement and medical examiners, provide the most complete age data but represent only 18 per cent of all deaths logged by the project, accounting for 820 of the 4,414 documented child deaths. The majority of the project's records rely on reports from humanitarian groups, media, and survivor testimonies.

The IOM and IDAC are urging governments to systematically record age and migration status in death registries, enhance data-sharing among authorities and humanitarian groups, and utilize peer-reviewed statistical models to better estimate unrecorded fatalities.

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