Imagine a world where nearly half the people forced from their homes by violence and persecution are women and girls, and where children make up 42% of all refugees—that world is our reality today, as over 120 million souls are now displaced globally.
Key Takeaways
- As of mid-2024, the global forcibly displaced population reached 120 million people, including 43.4 million refugees, 72.1 million internally displaced people, and 8.6 million asylum-seekers
- In 2023, 6.9 million new refugees were reported worldwide, marking the highest annual increase on record
- Women and girls constitute 49% of the global refugee population, totaling approximately 21.3 million individuals as of 2023
- In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of the world's refugees were hosted in 2023, numbering 7.8 million
- Europe hosted 13.1 million refugees and asylum-seekers in 2023, primarily due to Ukraine crisis
- Middle East and North Africa region sheltered 9.2 million refugees in 2023
- Syria produced 6.8 million refugees, the largest origin globally as of 2024
- Afghanistan was the second-largest source with 6.4 million refugees and 3.5 million IDPs in 2024
- South Sudan generated 2.2 million refugees due to civil war and famine
- UNHCR's 2024 Global Appeal requested $23.1 billion for 38.4 million refugees and others
- In 2023, only 41% of $25.8 billion required for refugee response was funded
- USAID provided $1.5 billion for refugee assistance in FY2023
- In 2023, 116,600 refugees were resettled globally, primarily to US (60,000), Canada (37,000), and Germany (14,000)
- 510,000 refugees returned voluntarily in 2023, with major returns to Afghanistan (400,000) and Sudan (50,000)
- Local integration solutions benefited 120,000 refugees in 2023, mainly in Africa
A record 120 million people are now forcibly displaced from their homes globally.
Aid and Funding
- UNHCR's 2024 Global Appeal requested $23.1 billion for 38.4 million refugees and others
- In 2023, only 41% of $25.8 billion required for refugee response was funded
- USAID provided $1.5 billion for refugee assistance in FY2023
- EU allocated €10.3 billion for migration and refugee programs in 2021-2027
- World Food Programme fed 5.4 million refugees in 2023 with $8.4 billion budget
- Germany's development aid for refugees reached €1.2 billion in 2023
- UNICEF's refugee education programs reached 7.8 million children in 2023 with $1.1 billion funding
- IOM's 2024 appeal for refugee movements was $7.7 billion
- UK's aid for refugees totaled £4.3 billion in 2023
- Private sector contributions to UNHCR reached $200 million in 2023
- Sweden's refugee funding was 1.2% of GNI in 2023, highest per capita
- Jordan received $1.6 billion in aid for Syrian refugees in 2023
- MSF treated 1.2 million refugee patients in 2023 with €2.5 billion budget
- Canada's resettlement funding was CAD 1.8 billion for 2023-2025
- Only 12% of global humanitarian funding goes to education for refugees
- UNHCR received $10.2 billion in 2023, covering 43% of needs for refugees
- Global humanitarian funding for refugees was $28.9 billion requested in 2024
- Japan contributed $500 million to UNHCR in 2023 for refugee aid
- France's aid for refugees was €1.1 billion in 2023
- WFP's refugee food aid budget was $9.2 billion in 2024
- Netherlands funded €800 million for refugee hosting in 2023
- Health funding for refugees met only 35% of needs in 2023
- Private philanthropy raised $150 million for UNHCR education in 2023
- Denmark's refugee aid was 0.8% of GNI, totaling DKK 15 billion
- Lebanon received $2.5 billion in aid for 1.5 million Syrian refugees
- IRC's budget for refugee health was $450 million in 2023
- Australia's humanitarian funding was AUD 900 million in 2023
- Education funding gap for refugee children was $1.5 billion in 2023
Aid and Funding Interpretation
Despite the staggering billions pledged for refugee crises, the consistent and glaring shortfall in funding reveals a sobering truth: our global compassion is a generous but deeply overdrawn account.
By Country of Origin
- Syria produced 6.8 million refugees, the largest origin globally as of 2024
- Afghanistan was the second-largest source with 6.4 million refugees and 3.5 million IDPs in 2024
- South Sudan generated 2.2 million refugees due to civil war and famine
- Myanmar (Burma) had 1.2 million refugees fleeing Rohingya crisis and internal conflicts in 2023
- Sudan produced 2.7 million refugees amid 2023 civil war
- Ukraine generated 6.5 million refugees since 2022 Russian invasion
- Democratic Republic of Congo displaced 1.7 million refugees externally in 2023
- Somalia had 900,000 refugees due to Al-Shabaab and drought
- Eritrea contributed 550,000 refugees fleeing indefinite military service
- Ethiopia hosted outflows of 900,000 refugees from Tigray war
- Venezuela led to 7.7 million refugees and migrants by 2024
- Iraq produced 300,000 refugees post-ISIS
- Nigeria generated 400,000 refugees from Boko Haram insurgency
- Yemen had 450,000 refugees amid civil war
- Central African Republic displaced 700,000 refugees
- Turkey hosted 3.3 million Syrian refugees in 2023, largest host globally
- Syria's refugee outflow remained at 6.8 million in 2024
- Afghanistan refugees totaled 6.5 million externally displaced in 2024
- South Sudan's refugees hit 2.3 million amid renewed violence
- Rohingya refugees from Myanmar reached 1.3 million in Bangladesh alone
- Sudan's civil war displaced 2.8 million refugees by mid-2024
- Ukraine refugees stood at 6.6 million across Europe in 2024
- DRC refugees numbered 1.8 million in neighboring countries
- Somalia's refugee population was 950,000 in 2024
- Sudanese refugees in Chad reached 600,000 by 2024
- Eritrea refugees totaled 600,000, mainly in Ethiopia and Sudan
- Ethiopia's outflows were 920,000 refugees in 2024
- Venezuela's total displaced abroad was 7.9 million in 2024
- Iraq refugees were 310,000 in 2024
- Nigeria's Boko Haram displaced 410,000 refugees
By Country of Origin Interpretation
Our world’s grim leaderboard of human misery shows Syria and Afghanistan vying for first place, while an entire global community of displaced souls—from Sudan’s ruins to Ukraine’s defiance, and Venezuela’s exodus—asks us to remember that these aren't just staggering statistics, but the shattered lives of millions.
By Region
- In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of the world's refugees were hosted in 2023, numbering 7.8 million
- Europe hosted 13.1 million refugees and asylum-seekers in 2023, primarily due to Ukraine crisis
- Middle East and North Africa region sheltered 9.2 million refugees in 2023
- Asia-Pacific hosted 5.6 million refugees, with major populations from Myanmar and Afghanistan
- The Americas saw 6.1 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants by 2024
- In East and Horn of Africa, displacement affected 22 million people in 2023
- West and Central Africa hosted 1.8 million refugees amid Sahel conflicts in 2023
- Southern Africa sheltered 700,000 refugees, mainly from Zimbabwe and DRC
- Central Europe and the Balkans had 1.2 million refugees in 2023
- South Asia hosted 2.4 million refugees, predominantly Afghans in Pakistan and Iran
- The Great Lakes region in Africa had 2.1 million refugees from DRC conflicts
- North America resettled 25,000 refugees in FY2023
- In the Russian Federation and neighboring countries, 5.8 million Ukrainian refugees were recorded by 2024
- Latin America and Caribbean hosted 40% of Venezuelan refugees outside Venezuela, totaling 3.5 million in 2023
- Eastern Mediterranean region had 6.7 million Syrian refugees in 2023
- Mid-2024 Sub-Saharan Africa hosted 7.9 million refugees, up 12% from 2023
- Europe's refugee population hit 13.6 million in 2024 due to ongoing Ukraine war
- MENA region's refugees numbered 9.5 million in mid-2024
- Asia hosted 6.1 million refugees, with 80% in Pakistan and Iran
- Americas' Venezuelan displacement reached 7.9 million by 2024
- East Asia and Pacific had 1.1 million refugees from North Korea and others
- Central Asia sheltered 1.2 million Afghans in 2024
- The Caribbean hosted 150,000 Haitian refugees in 2024
- Balkans region had 800,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in 2023
- Caucasus hosted 400,000 from regional conflicts
By Region Interpretation
Here is a witty but serious one-sentence interpretation:
While headlines often fixate on refugee crises crossing into wealthy nations, the staggering, overlooked truth is that the world's poorest regions are quietly shouldering the immense and unglamorous burden of global displacement.
Global Overview
- As of mid-2024, the global forcibly displaced population reached 120 million people, including 43.4 million refugees, 72.1 million internally displaced people, and 8.6 million asylum-seekers
- In 2023, 6.9 million new refugees were reported worldwide, marking the highest annual increase on record
- Women and girls constitute 49% of the global refugee population, totaling approximately 21.3 million individuals as of 2023
- Children under 18 make up 42% of all refugees globally, equating to about 18.2 million children in 2023
- The global forced displacement crisis has tripled since 2011, from 40.8 million to 120 million by mid-2024
- 75% of all refugees come from just five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Sudan as of 2024
- Asylum applications worldwide surged to 2.6 million in 2023, a 28% increase from 2022
- The proportion of refugees hosted in low- and middle-income countries stood at 73% in 2023
- Protracted refugee situations, lasting 5+ years, affect 78% of refugees under UNHCR mandate, totaling 27.5 million people in 2023
- Global resettlement needs reached 2.5 million refugees in 2024, but only 10% were met in 2023 with 116,000 resettled
- In 2023, 1.2 million refugees returned voluntarily to their countries of origin
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused a 20% drop in refugee resettlement in 2020-2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels
- By end-2023, 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations
- Refugees and asylum-seekers represented 1 in every 110 people on the planet in 2023
- Funding for refugee assistance reached only 44% of requirements in 2023, totaling $19.4 billion requested
Global Overview Interpretation
The sobering arithmetic of our world now dictates that if you gathered a representative crowd of 110 people, one of them would be a refugee—a stark testament to a crisis we have collectively outsourced to the poorest nations while chronically underfunding our humanitarian response.
Resettlement and Returns
- In 2023, 116,600 refugees were resettled globally, primarily to US (60,000), Canada (37,000), and Germany (14,000)
- 510,000 refugees returned voluntarily in 2023, with major returns to Afghanistan (400,000) and Sudan (50,000)
- Local integration solutions benefited 120,000 refugees in 2023, mainly in Africa
- US admitted 100,000 refugees in FY2024 quota, up from 125,000 in FY2023
- Germany's family reunification resettled 45,000 refugees in 2023
- Australia resettled 20,000 humanitarian entrants in 2023
- Sweden granted permanent residence to 25,000 refugees in 2023
- Naturalization rates for refugees averaged 5% annually in OECD countries
- 1.1 million IDPs returned in Ukraine by end-2023
- Employment rates for resettled refugees reached 60% after 5 years in Canada
- UK resettled 22,000 via community sponsorship in 2023
- Norway integrated 15,000 refugees with 70% employment after 3 years
- In 2023, 2.3 million refugees accessed higher education globally, up 10% from 2022
- Refugee recognition rate in EU was 42% for first-instance decisions in 2023
- 142,000 refugees resettled in 2024 Q1-Q2 globally
- Voluntary returns reached 620,000 in 2024, mainly to Afghanistan
- Local integration granted citizenship to 80,000 refugees in 2023
- US FY2024 resettlement reached 75,000 by mid-year
- Canada's private sponsorship resettled 10,000 in 2023
Resettlement and Returns Interpretation
These figures paint a portrait of a world straining toward decency—a story of doors cautiously opened, of families reuniting, and of millions finding their footing, yet still overshadowed by the sheer, staggering scale of displacement that these hard-won triumphs can't quite outpace.
Sources & References
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