8,565 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2023, nearly 20% more than in 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Highest jump in migrant deaths on Mediterranean Sea crossing.
Unprecedented number of migrant deaths in Asia at 2,138, as Afghans and Rohingya refugees flee.
Record migrant deaths in Africa at 1,866. Most of them occurred in the Sahara Desert and the sea route to the Canary Islands.
The most number of deaths, about 3,700, came from drowning last year.
IOM warns that the true figure is likely to be higher due to lack of data from remote locations like the Darien Gap in Panama.
More than 63,000 cases have been recorded worldwide since the UN agency started counting migrant deaths and disappearances in 2014.