Two in three children recorded as unaccompanied
More than two-thirds of children recorded as arriving in six European countries through mixed-migration routes in 2025 were unaccompanied, according to a new joint UN trends report released on 7 October.
The report counted 31,103 child arrivals by sea and land in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain. Of those, 20,777, or 67 per cent, were recorded as unaccompanied children. The total number of child arrivals was 25 per cent lower than in 2024, when 41,779 were recorded, but the unaccompanied share rose from 51 per cent.
“Unaccompanied” describes children recorded without a parent or guardian. The figures are arrivals on the specified routes and in the listed countries, not a count of every migrant child in Europe. The report combines administrative data from national authorities and UNHCR estimates; it does not present the total as a complete census of all children moving to or within Europe.
Different patterns by country
Italy recorded 14,083 child arrivals by sea, including 12,177 unaccompanied children. While overall arrivals to Italy were broadly stable year on year, the number of children rose by 12 per cent from 12,594. Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Bangladesh and Ethiopia were among the main countries of origin recorded for children arriving there.
Greece registered 9,978 child arrivals by sea and land, including 3,007 unaccompanied children. The overall number of child arrivals fell 41 per cent from 16,820 in 2024. Spain recorded 5,543 arrivals, 19 per cent fewer than the previous year; 4,702 were recorded as unaccompanied.
The other country totals were smaller: 1,023 children lodged asylum applications in Bulgaria, 527 children arrived in Cyprus and 39 arrived in Malta. These measures are not identical: the Bulgaria figure concerns asylum applications, while the other country figures concern arrivals. The report notes that available age and gender breakdowns are limited or inconsistent in some places, and certain figures are estimates.
Survey records reported risks along routes
The report also draws on interviews conducted by the International Organization for Migration with 4,671 adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24. The interview group is broader than the children counted in the arrival statistics and should not be read as a survey of children alone.
Nearly half of those interviewed reported physical violence during their journeys. The share was 58 per cent among respondents travelling on the Eastern Mediterranean route and 52 per cent on the Central Mediterranean route. On the Central Mediterranean route, 28 per cent said they had been held against their will and 17 per cent reported forced work. Libya was the country most frequently cited as the location of reported abuse.
These are respondents’ accounts, grouped by route, rather than independently adjudicated findings about each incident or estimates of prevalence among all people travelling those routes. The report describes a range of experiences, including robbery, shortages of food or shelter, health problems and violence. It says reported incidents also occurred in other transit countries and remote land-border areas.
Fewer children in resettlement and relocation
The report records 3,400 children among 6,800 people undergoing resettlement procedures in Europe in 2025, compared with 8,900 children among 17,800 people a year earlier. This is a measure of people in procedures, not a count of completed resettlements. Separately, 199 children were relocated between European states under the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism, a 67 per cent fall; none was recorded as unaccompanied.
Across Europe, 214,600 children sought international protection in 2025, and 79 per cent were first-time applicants. Four countries accounted for about 71 per cent of those first applications: Germany, France, Spain and Greece. Of 210,900 first-instance decisions on children’s asylum claims, 56 per cent were positive; the number of negative decisions rose by 25 per cent from 2024.
The joint report brings together arrival, asylum, journey and protection data for 2025. Its findings distinguish administrative counts from interview responses and estimates, and show why the figures need to be read within their stated route, country and population definitions.
