Frontex attributed the trend to preventive measures adopted by Libya and Tunisia under deals with EU and with individual European governments. "Arrivals from those two countries account for 95% of all migrants reported on the Central Mediterranean route," the agency noted.

A total of 13,323 migrants have been intercepted at sea and taken back to Libya since the beginning of the year, including 11,830 men, 912 women, 445 minors and an additional 136 people whose gender was not reported.

Varying migration trends across Europe

Nevertheless, the Central Mediterranean still remains the most active migratory route to the EU, followed by the Eastern Mediterranean, which was the second most active migratory route. There, the number of arrivals this year has been increasing by 57% to almost 29,700.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants detected on the Western Balkan route also continued to fall significantly in the January - July period, and was down as much as 75% to just over 12,400 cases, Frontex also said.

Other noteworthy routes include the Western African route, which continues to record unprecedented numbers of detections, with the total of irregular migrants arriving in the Canary Islands in the first seven months increasing by 154% year-on-year to over 21,600.

On the English Channel route, the number of detections in the first seven months of 2024 increased by 22% to reach 33,183, Frontex concluded.

Over 1,000 presumed dead at sea

Despite this overall drop in numbers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said over 1,000 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean so far this year.

According to a post published on X by IOM, 421 people have been reported dead and 603 remained missing on the Central Mediterranean route.