Over 4,400 Child Migrant Deaths Recorded Since 2014, IOM Report Shows

GENEVA and BERLIN — At least 4,414 children died during migration journeys worldwide between 2014 and 2025, according to a report released on October 13 by the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants Project, supported by the International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC). The organizations stated that the true toll is likely much higher due to widespread gaps in demographic data.

Over the same time frame, the Missing Migrants Project recorded nearly 81,000 total migrant deaths and disappearances globally. However, 55.5 percent of these records—representing 44,862 cases—contain no information regarding age or age group, leaving an unknown number of children uncounted in the total death toll.

The report highlighted specific discrepancies on major routes. On the Central Mediterranean Route in 2024, children comprised 19 percent of arrivals in Italy and Malta, yet they accounted for only 2 percent of recorded deaths on that route.

According to the report, child deaths go uncounted in two primary ways: unrecorded deaths, termed the "missing figure," and documented deaths lacking age identification, known as the "hidden figure." The latter frequently affects teenagers who may be mistakenly categorized as adults.

Official sources, including medical examiners and law enforcement agencies, provide the most detailed age data but represent only 18 percent of all migrant deaths recorded by the project, accounting for 820 of the 4,414 documented child deaths. The majority of remaining records rely on humanitarian groups, media reporting, and survivor or witness testimonies.

The report urges governments to enhance the documentation of migrant deaths by systematically recording age and migration status, improving inter-agency data sharing, and testing statistical methods to estimate unrecorded fatalities.

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