Migration Costs to Europe: 2,400 Records of Facilitator Fees (2000-Present)

Over 2,400 records document the amounts paid by refugees and migrants to facilitators for transit to Europe from 2000 to the present. Created by The Migrants' Files, the data aggregates FRONTEX detection reports and median crossing prices across various migration routes.

Use Cases

• Economic modeling of migration routes by analyzing the amounts paid relative to FRONTEX-defined routes
• Trend analysis of smuggling market fluctuations using the 2014 euros inflation-corrected price field
• Estimating total market volume for facilitators by multiplying detections by the median crossing prices provided

Strengths

• Spans over 24 years of data from 2000 to the present
• Includes over 2,400 records covering routes from Africa, the Middle East, and Europe
• Standardizes historical financial data into inflation-adjusted 2014 euros

Limitations

• Relies on a fixed 15% discount rate for non-paying passengers which may not be accurate for all routes
• The source organization is currently inactive
• Price data is based on medians from secondary sources rather than primary financial records

Provenance

Source

The Migrants' Files, FRONTEX, and Clandestino

Collection Method

Aggregation of official detection reports and median price estimates from various sources

Time Range

2000-present

Freshness

Last updated March 2026 (as reported by source).

Geography

Africa, Middle East, and Europe