The Italian Interior Ministry said that the number of immigrants who reached the Italian coasts declined by one third in 2017, compared to 2016.
The ministry attributed the drop in immigration to its assistance to the Libyan authorities in fighting illegal immigration and reducing the influx of arrivals during the second half of the year.
More than 119,000 people arrived in Italy this year, after the number reached 181,000 in 2016., according to the ministry.
Last week, the Italian government said that some 10,000 people stranded in refugee camps in Libya could benefit from humanitarian corridors that would take them to Europe and enable them to become refugees in 2018