Refugees and migrants are seen at the borderline between Greece and Macedonia in Idomeni, Greece, on March 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

GENEVA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Migrant arrivals in Europe in the first 36 days of this year was much lower than a year ago, but the fatality count paints a very different picture, data revealed on Tuesday.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 255 men, women and children have drowned while crossing the Mediterranean Sea since the start of the year, not far short of the 2016 count of 380 deaths over the same period.

Most deaths this year (228) have been documented on the central Mediterranean Sea route between North Africa and Italy.

Additional 27 individuals have lost their lives on western and eastern Mediterranean passages.

A total of 11,010 migrants and refugees have reached Europe by sea through Feb. 5 this year, significantly lower than over 74,800 arrivals in the first 36 days of 2016.

IOM statistics revealed that most of this year's maritime arrivals (9,359) were documented in Italy, with the rest landing in Greece (1,651).