What was claimed Almost 1% of, or one in 100, people crossing the Channel in small boats are dying. Recorded figures suggest there’s been around one death per 1,190 small boat arrivals between 2018 and 2025. The data we have suggests the ratio of deaths to small boat arrivals is closer to 1 in 1,000. According to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, between 2018 and 2025 a total of 162 people are known to have died attempting a small boat crossing in the Channel. The total number of small boat arrivals over the same period was 192,610, suggesting that deaths were equivalent to approximately 0.084% of recorded arrivals over this period—around 1 death per 1,190 arrivals.