Most frequent immigrant nationalities declared upon arrival in Italy 2023

In 2023, 18,211 immigrants who reached Italy came from Guinea. Moreover, around 17,300 migrants were from Tunisia, whereas 16,000 people originated from Côte d'Ivoire. These three nationalities represented 30 percent of the individuals arrived.

Mediterranean routes to Europe

The Mediterranean Sea recorded the largest number of deaths and missing cases of migrants worldwide. The Mediterranean Route leading to Italy is known as the Central Mediterranean Route, which counts the highest number of fatalities among the different Mediterranean routes. This route includes the crossing from North Africa to Italy, as well as to Malta. The main departing country is Libya, while Tunisia, Egypt, and East Algeria represent minor departing shores. After the Central Mediterranean Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean Sea registered the second-highest number of deaths and missing people. The Eastern Mediterranean route includes migration flows from Türkiye to Greece and Cyprus. 

Main countries of arrival

Between January and August 2023, Italy was the European country registering the largest number of migrants' arrivals. All the 134,100 immigrants reached the country by sea. Spain was the second country of first arrival in Europe, followed by Greece. The overall number of migrants who set foot on Italian shores expanded in the last years. However, the death and missing cases did not drop proportionally to the number of people who reached the coast.