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Figures at a glance

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

Figures at a glance

Topline global statistics on forced displacement, including current and historical numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people.

How many refugees and forcibly displaced people are there?

As of the end of 2024, the most recent reporting period, 123.2 million people had been forced to flee their homes globally due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.

Among them were nearly 42.7 million refugees. In addition, there were 73.5 million people displaced within the borders of their own countries (IDPs) and 8.4 million asylum-seekers. 

There are also 4.4 million stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and lack access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment and freedom of movement.

At a time when more than 1 in every 67 people on Earth has been forced to flee, our work at UNHCR is more important than ever before.

 

Some Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate in Gaza have also been internally displaced. In the figures above, internally displaced Palestine refugees are counted under the figures for 'Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate' and 'IDPs', but are only counted once in the overall total of displaced people (123.2).

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Bar chart with 5 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying People (millions). Data ranges from 5.88 to 73.52.
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Global forced displacement trend over the last 30 years

At the end of 2024, 123.2 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.

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Line chart with 31 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Displaced people (millions). Data ranges from 33.91 to 123.2.
End of interactive chart.

Refugee, IDP and asylum-seeker trends over the last 30 years

Refugees

At the end of 2024, there were 42.7 million refugees globally.

This includes 36.8 million refugees under UNHCR's mandate, 4 million people in a refugee-like situation and 5.9 million other people in need of international protection, as well as 5.9 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA's mandate.

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Line chart with 31 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Displaced people (millions). Data ranges from 13010000 to 43363000.
End of interactive chart.
Internal displacement (IDPs)

At the end of 2024, there were 73.5 million internally displaced people.

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Line chart with 31 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Displaced people (millions). Data ranges from 17400000 to 73522000.
End of interactive chart.
Asylum-seekers

At the end of 2024, there were 8.4 million asylum-seekers globally.

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Line chart with 31 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Displaced people (millions). Data ranges from 645000 to 8355000.
End of interactive chart.

Where do refugees live?

73% hosted in low- and middle-income countries

Low- and middle-income countries hosted 73 per cent of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection.

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67% hosted in neighbouring countries

67 per cent of of refugees and other people in need of international protection lived in countries neighbouring their countries of origin.

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Demographics of forcibly displaced people

Children account for 29 per cent of the world’s population, but 40 per cent of all forcibly displaced people.

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Bar chart with 2 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from 4 to 53.
End of interactive chart.

Data on forced displacement and stateless populations

UNHCR tracks the number of people forced to flee and uses data and statistics to inform and optimize our work and the work of our partners to better protect, assist and provide solutions. This means that when a major displacement crisis erupts, we can predict how many people need help, what kind of help they need and how many staff we should deploy.

We release two flagship statistical reports on global forced displacement each year, the Global Trends report and the Mid-Year Trends report.

The Global Trends report, released annually in June, analyses changes and trends in forcibly displaced populations in the previous calendar year (from 1 January to 31 December). It provides key statistics on the global numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people and stateless people, as well as their main host countries and countries of origin. The figures on this page are based on the Global Trends report.

In October each year, the Mid-Year Trends report is released to provide updated figures and analysis for the initial six months of the current year (from 1 January to 30 June). These figures are preliminary, and the final data is included in the subsequent Global Trends report released in June of the following year.

Page last updated: 12 June 2025
UNHCR updates the data on this page twice a year: 
- In June, with official data from the end of the previous year (Global Trends report).
- In October, with preliminary data for the first six months of the current year (Mid-Year Trends report).

 

UNHCR data, analysis and publications

Visit the UNHCR data page to learn more about how UNHCR collects data, and to access our flagship publications, data visualizations and statistical databases.

UNHCR data