Illegal crossings at Europe's borders lowest in 5 years

BRUSSELS -- Illegal border crossings at Europe's external borders in 2018 fell by a quarter to the lowest level in five years, according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

The number in 2018 was estimated at 150,000, 92 percent below the peak of the migratory crisis in 2015, said the agency, also known as Frontex, in the latest news release.

The decline was due to the dramatic fall - 80 percent less than 2017 - in the number of migrants taking the Central Mediterranean route to Italy, said Frontex.

Women accounted for 18 percent of all illegal border-crossings on entry from third countries to the European Union.

Nearly one in five of the detected migrants claimed to be under the age of 18, with close to 4,000 unaccompanied minors reported on entry at the European Union external borders in 2018, said the release.