Western balkans key indicators
Total Area
218 720 km²
Total Landborder Length
6 298 km
Total Population
17.55 million
GDP Total
$133.8 billion
GDP Per Capita
$7 382.8
Organized Crime Index
Smuggling of migrants in the Western Balkans
An overview of the migrant smuggling patterns and markets, drawing from the GI-TOC's Observatory of Illicit Economies in South Eastern Europe’s report 'Spot Prices: Analyzing flows of people, drugs and money in the Western Balkans' and other ongoing studies in the region.
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Migration overview
Irregular border crossings on the Balkan route
By the numbers, 2009–2022
Since the 1970s, the Balkan route has been a notorious trail for smuggling drugs from east to west. But in 2015, it took on a new meaning as an estimated 1.5 million asylum seekers and migrants – triggered in part by the war in Syria and Iraq – made their way through Turkey and Greece to the Western Balkans and then on to Western Europe. In 2022, around 330 000 irregular border crossings were detected at EU’s external border, from which 145 600 through the Western Balkan route, the highest since 2016.
SOURCE: Frontex, Migratory routes
Number of migrants and asylum seekers
in each of the six Western Balkan countries between 2015 and 2022. (y-axis in logarithmic scale)
Top 4 nationalities (2015–2022)
Albania (ALB)
11 971 in 2020
Syria, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iraq
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)
16 211 in 2020
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Bangladesh
Kosovo (KOS)
1 910 in 2020
Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq
Montenegro (MNE)
2 898 in 2020
Morocco, Afghanistan, Iran, Algeria
North Macedonia (MKD)
41 257 in 2020
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria
Serbia (SRB)
39 648 in 2020
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria
Source: UNHCR reports on refugees, asylum-seekers and other mixed movements in the Western Balkans, 2015–2022
Hotspots
Migrant smuggling hotspots
as of 2020
An interactive map displaying migrant smuggling routes and the prices paid for getting smuggled and travel along the Western Balkans.
Market size
Estimates of the migrant smuggling markets in the Western Balkans in 2020
How lucrative is the market for the smuggling of migrants through the Western Balkans?
This is difficult to answer because, in addition to information about the total population migrating through the region and the prices paid to smugglers, one needs to consider other variables such as whether the migrants are travelling alone or as a family; additional fees for travel documents and bribes; and how many times a person has to cross the same border before reaching their destination. Nevertheless, by focusing on the hotspots, it is possible to get a sense of the size of the illicit economy.
Total range of €34.8 millions to € 50.2 millions
Latest analysis from the observatory
Global Initiative Strategy (2024-2026)
New ways to think and act
The Western Balkans is a crossroads for the trafficking of many illicit commodities, and it is a geographical hub for the smuggling of migrants who are trying to enter Western Europe.
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The See Obs
The GI-TOC's Observatory of Illicit Economies in South Eastern Europe is a platform that connects and empowers civil society actors in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
The Observatory aims to enable civil society to identify, analyze and map criminal trends, and their impact on illicit flows, governance, development, interethnic relations, security and the rule of law, and supports them in their monitoring of national dynamics and wider regional and international organized-crime trends.
The Observatory was launched as an outcome of the 2018 Western Balkans Summit in London, a part of the Berlin Process.
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