The number of irregular border crossings into the European Union in the first six months of 2024 fell by almost a third (30 percent) to roughly 94,000, according to preliminary data released by EU border agency Frontex.

"Among the main migratory routes, the Western Balkans and the Central Mediterranean recorded the largest decreases in detections of irregular border crossings (-72 percent and -61 percent respectively), while the West African and the Eastern Land Border have seen the largest increases (+174 percent and +148 percent respectively)," the agency said on its website.

The Eastern Land Borders refers to ones with Poland and the Baltic region.

Central Med route plunges by 61%

"The Central Mediterranean route, which saw the largest number of irregular crossings a year ago, continued to show a downward trend in recent months. Despite a decrease of 61 percent compared to last year, it remained the most active route this year with almost 26,000 detections. In June, the number of arrivals fell to 4,500, a decrease of more than 71 percent compared to last year," Frontex said.

Eastern Med route surges by 75%

"The second most active migratory route in the first half of the year was the Eastern Mediterranean, where the number of arrivals increased by 75 percent to almost 25,000," it added.

In the meantime, "the Western African route continued to record unprecedented numbers of detections, with the total of irregular migrants arriving in the Canary Islands in the first half of the year increasing by 174 percent year-on-year to almost 20,000. In June, there were 2,600 arrivals," it stated.

Balkan route down 72%, eastern land routes used mostly by Ukrainians

"The number of detections on the Western Balkan route also continued to fall in the January-June period and was down 72 percent to just over 10,640," Frontex added.

"In the first six months of 2024, there was also a significant increase in irregular border crossings at the Eastern Land Borders, with a sharp rise of 148 percent to over 6,700. A vast majority of the people detected on this route were Ukrainian nationals," the agency noted.

"On the Channel route, the number of detections in the first six months of 2024 increased by 24 percent to reach 27,100," the border agency said.