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The global refugee crisis represents one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges of our time. At the end of June 2025, 117.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. Understanding the geographic distribution of refugee populations is essential for policymakers, humanitarian organizations, and researchers working to address this complex phenomenon. This comprehensive exploration examines where refugees are located, what drives their movement patterns, and how the international community responds to displacement crises.
The Scale of Global Displacement
At the end of 2024, 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced. This staggering figure represents 1 in every 67 people on Earth. The magnitude of this crisis has grown dramatically in recent years, with displacement nearly doubling during the last decade. However, there are some signs of potential stabilization, as by the end of April 2025, UNHCR estimates that the global number of forcibly displaced people has likely fallen slightly by 1 per cent to 122.1 million, the first decrease in well over a decade.
The displaced population includes multiple categories of people. By the end of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Additionally, as of June 2025, 67.8 million people were estimated to remain internally displaced due to conflict or violence, 8 per cent fewer than at the end of 2024. The global total also includes 8.4 million asylum-seekers globally as of mid-2025.
Geographic Distribution: Where Refugees Seek Safety
Regional Concentration Patterns
Refugee populations are not evenly distributed across the globe. Instead, they concentrate in specific regions based on proximity to conflict zones and the capacity of neighboring countries to provide asylum. One of the most striking patterns is that 66 per cent of refugees and other people in need of international protection lived in countries neighbouring their countries of origin. This geographic proximity reflects the reality that most refugees flee to the nearest safe location rather than embarking on long-distance journeys.
Europe remains among the regions with the highest number of displaced people globally, hosting 13.2 million refugees. Of these, more than 6.2 million are from Ukraine. The African continent also hosts substantial refugee populations, with the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region hosting around 5.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers and 18.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs) by mid-2024.
In West and Central Africa, displacement continues to escalate. The number of forcibly displaced in West and Central Africa is expected to climb from 14.3 million at the end of 2024 to around 15.2 million by the end of 2025. The Sahel region faces particularly acute challenges, as at the end of 2024, approximately 3.8 million people remained forcibly displaced, an increase of 58 per cent from the end of 2020.
The Burden on Low and Middle-Income Countries
A critical aspect of refugee distribution is the disproportionate burden placed on less wealthy nations. The majority of refugees – 71 per cent – reside in low- and middle-income countries. This pattern contradicts common perceptions in wealthier nations about refugee flows and highlights a fundamental inequity in the global response to displacement.
In 2024, countries with collectively just 27 per cent of global wealth hosted 80 per cent of the world’s refugees. This disparity places enormous strain on countries that often lack the resources to adequately support their own populations, let alone millions of displaced people. Uganda and Sudan are two of the leading refugee host nations in the world, but also two of the UN’s least-developed countries according to the Human Development Index (HDI).
Major Refugee-Hosting Countries
Certain countries bear a disproportionate responsibility for hosting displaced populations. Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Uganda hosted over one-third of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection. Understanding the specific situations in these countries provides insight into the diverse challenges of refugee hosting.
Türkiye: The World’s Largest Refugee Host
Türkiye has consistently ranked among the top refugee-hosting nations globally. As of mid-2024, Germany and Türkiye had some of the largest refugee and asylum seeker populations, hosting more than 3 million and 3.3 million respectively. The vast majority of refugees in Türkiye are Syrians who fled the ongoing civil war. At the end of 2024, around 471,000 Syrian refugees were living in Istanbul in Türkiye.
The concentration of Syrian refugees in Türkiye reflects both geographic proximity and the scale of the Syrian crisis. Nearly 80 percent of Syrian refugees are hosted in neighboring countries, including Türkiye (2.9 million), Lebanon (755,000) and Jordan (611,000). Türkiye’s role as a host country has evolved over more than a decade, requiring substantial infrastructure, social services, and integration programs.
Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran hosts a significant refugee population, primarily from neighboring Afghanistan. The country’s refugee numbers have fluctuated based on registration efforts and policy changes. Iran’s geographic position bordering Afghanistan has made it a primary destination for Afghans fleeing conflict and instability over several decades.
Germany: Europe’s Leading Host Nation
Germany stands out among European nations for its refugee hosting capacity. Most of its refugees come from Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Global Trends Report noted that Germany was the only country that does not share a border with the major refugee source countries it hosted. This distinction highlights Germany’s role in accepting refugees through resettlement programs and asylum processes rather than solely through proximity-based displacement.
Colombia: Responding to the Venezuelan Crisis
Colombia has emerged as a major refugee-hosting country due to the displacement crisis in neighboring Venezuela. Colombia has become one of the largest hosts for displaced people globally. To date, over 2.5 million people have arrived in Colombia from neighboring Venezuela. The country hosts both recognized refugees and other people in need of international protection.
Within Colombia, displacement is concentrated in specific regions. At the end of 2024, the number of Venezuelans living in Cundinamarca, a department whose capital is Bogotá in Colombia, decreased to 715,300, while the number of Venezuelans living in Antioquia, a northwest department of Colombia with Medellín as its capital, increased to 536,600.
Uganda: Africa’s Refugee Haven
Uganda has distinguished itself through progressive refugee policies that allow refugees greater freedom of movement and the right to work. Uganda’s refugee population consists of people from other African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and South Sudan. The country’s approach to refugee integration has been praised internationally, though it faces significant resource constraints.
Most of them were hosted in Uganda (975,000), Sudan (613,100) and Ethiopia (420,100). Uganda’s hosting of nearly one million South Sudanese refugees alone demonstrates the scale of its commitment to providing protection.
Pakistan: Hosting Afghan Refugees
Almost all refugees hosted in Pakistan are Afghans, who comprised the largest refugee population globally by country of origin. Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for decades, with populations concentrated in provinces bordering Afghanistan. In Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province in the northwest of Pakistan with Peshawar as its capital, hosted 433,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, most of whom were Afghans by the end of 2024.
Major Source Countries: Where Refugees Come From
Nearly seven in ten of all refugees under UNHCR’s mandate and other people in need of international protection come from just five countries. Understanding these source countries is essential for comprehending global displacement patterns and developing effective humanitarian responses.
Syria: The World’s Largest Refugee Crisis
The Syrian conflict has generated the world’s largest refugee population. One in six refugees worldwide are Syrian. The scale of Syrian displacement is staggering: By the end of 2024, the number of Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers stood at 6.1 million, with an additional 7.4 million internally displaced. This means one quarter of the Syrian population have been displaced by the war.
Recent political changes in Syria have created new dynamics. As of mid-May, more than 500,000 Syrians are estimated to have crossed back into Syria since the fall of the Assad government. Additionally, an estimated 1.2 million IDPs have also returned to their areas of origin. However, the sustainability of these returns remains uncertain, and it is estimated that up to 1.5 million Syrians from abroad and 2 million internally displaced people may return by the end of 2025.
Afghanistan: Decades of Displacement
Afghanistan has been a major source of refugees for decades, with displacement driven by ongoing conflict, political instability, and economic hardship. Afghan refugees are primarily hosted in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, though significant populations exist in other countries as well. The situation has been complicated by policy changes in host countries, with Afghan refugees having no other option but to return under adverse circumstances from their hosting countries after the enactment of restrictive policies in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan.
Sudan: A Rapidly Escalating Crisis
The war in Sudan triggered one of the world’s largest displacement crises. The scale of displacement in Sudan is extraordinary: By the end of 2024, a total of 14.3 million people—a third of the nation’s population—was displaced. Sudan remains the largest displacement situation with 13.4 million refugees, asylum-seekers and IDPs.
The internal displacement within Sudan is particularly severe. Sudan remained the largest internal displacement crisis, while the number of people displaced within the country decreased by 1.5 million and stood at 10 million at mid-2025. Despite some returns, the humanitarian situation remains dire, with ongoing conflict preventing sustainable solutions.
Ukraine: Europe’s Displacement Crisis
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered massive displacement across Europe. The war in Ukraine is ongoing and continues to drive large-scale displacement, with an estimated 12.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025. The displacement includes both refugees who fled to other countries and internally displaced persons within Ukraine. In 2024, 740,000 Ukrainians were newly displaced, while 3.7 million IDPs remained displaced by the end of 2024.
Venezuela: The Americas’ Largest Displacement
Venezuela has generated the largest displacement crisis in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have been displaced, with most living in Latin American and Caribbean countries. The displacement is driven by economic collapse, political instability, and humanitarian crisis. At the end of 2024, there were 370,200 refugees and 5.9 million other Venezuelans in need of international protection.
Venezuelan displacement has particularly impacted neighboring countries. Within the city of Lima in Peru, there were 788,200 refugees, asylum-seekers and other people in need of international protection at end-2024, almost all of whom were Venezuelan. The dangerous journey through the Darién Gap illustrates the desperation of many fleeing Venezuela, as in the first eight months of 2024, 240,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Darién jungle.
Myanmar: The Rohingya Crisis
The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is one of the most complex and protracted in the world. As of March 2025, 3.6 million people were displaced within Myanmar, while 1.5 million had fled the country. The Rohingya population faces particularly severe challenges. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar and the largest known stateless population, totaling nearly 1.8 million.
The largest concentration of Rohingya refugees is in Bangladesh. Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh hosted the largest population of refugees, with 929,800 at the end of 2024. Almost all are Rohingya from Myanmar who live in over 30 formal settlements. It is the location that has hosted the largest number of refugees and asylum-seekers worldwide since 2018. The dangerous conditions facing Rohingya refugees are evident, as around 660 Rohingya refugees were reported dead or missing at sea in 2024.
South Sudan
There were 2.3 million refugees from South Sudan at the end of 2024. South Sudan faces the complex challenge of both producing refugees and receiving returnees. In addition to helping Sudanese refugees fleeing from conflict, South Sudan is supporting nearly three-quarters of a million South Sudanese refugees who have returned since the conflict began in April 2023, 404,700 of whom arrived in 2024 alone.
Factors Influencing Refugee Distribution
The distribution of refugee populations worldwide is shaped by multiple interconnected factors. Understanding these drivers is essential for predicting future displacement patterns and developing effective humanitarian responses.
Geographic Proximity to Conflict Zones
Geographic proximity remains the single most important factor determining where refugees seek safety. When conflict erupts, most people flee to the nearest safe location, often crossing into neighboring countries. This pattern explains why countries bordering conflict zones consistently host the largest refugee populations, even when they lack the economic resources to adequately support displaced populations.
The concentration of refugees in neighboring countries creates regional displacement crises that can destabilize entire regions. For example, the Syrian conflict has profoundly impacted Lebanon, Jordan, and Türkiye, while the Venezuelan crisis has affected Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and other Latin American nations.
Government Policies on Asylum and Protection
National policies on asylum significantly influence refugee distribution. Countries with more welcoming policies and established asylum systems tend to attract more refugees, while restrictive policies can deter asylum seekers or force them to seek protection elsewhere. In 2024, nearly half of refugee children were enrolled in national schools, 67% of refugees could move freely within their host countries, and 62% had access to work in law. These variations in rights and access affect where refugees choose to seek protection when they have options.
Some countries have implemented progressive policies that facilitate refugee integration. Uganda, for example, allows refugees to work and move freely, making it an attractive destination despite being a low-income country. Conversely, restrictive policies can force refugees to move onward or return to dangerous situations.
Availability of International Aid and Support
International humanitarian assistance plays a crucial role in determining which countries can effectively host refugee populations. However, funding remains inadequate and unevenly distributed. For 2022-2023, Official Development Assistance (ODA) for refugees in low- and middle-income countries amounted to USD 27.7 billion. However, overall ODA funding declined in 2024 and is expected to fall further in 2025.
The distribution of aid is also problematic. While donor engagement has grown since 2020, over half of the funding came from just three providers. This concentration of funding sources creates vulnerability when donor priorities shift. Furthermore, despite growing local partnerships, support to national actors remained limited at 13 per cent in 2022-2023.
Economic Opportunities and Livelihoods
Economic factors significantly influence refugee movement and settlement patterns. Refugees seek locations where they can support themselves and their families, either through employment opportunities or access to humanitarian assistance. Urban areas often attract refugees because they offer more diverse economic opportunities than rural areas or camps.
The ability to work legally is particularly important. Countries that grant refugees the right to work enable self-reliance and reduce dependency on humanitarian aid. However, many refugees face legal barriers to employment, forcing them into informal economies or leaving them dependent on assistance.
Geographical Barriers and Routes
Physical geography shapes refugee movement patterns. Mountains, deserts, and bodies of water can create barriers that channel refugees along specific routes or prevent movement entirely. These geographical constraints often force refugees to take dangerous journeys, leading to tragic loss of life.
The Mediterranean Sea, the Sahara Desert, and the Darién Gap are examples of geographical barriers that have become deadly obstacles for refugees seeking safety. Despite the dangers, desperate people continue to attempt these crossings when they perceive no safer alternatives.
Social Networks and Diaspora Communities
Existing diaspora communities and social networks influence where refugees seek asylum. People are more likely to flee to locations where they have family members, friends, or community connections who can provide support and assistance. These networks provide crucial information about asylum procedures, housing, employment, and integration.
Language and cultural similarities also play a role. Refugees may prefer destinations where they can communicate in their native language or where cultural practices are similar to their home country, facilitating integration and reducing isolation.
Climate Change and Environmental Factors
Climate change is increasingly influencing displacement patterns, though it typically acts as a threat multiplier rather than a sole cause of displacement. With over 90 million forcibly displaced people living in areas highly exposed to weather-related hazards like drought, floods and extreme heat, the climate crisis is becoming inseparable from the displacement crisis.
Extreme weather events compound existing vulnerabilities. Widespread floods in 2024 affected over 1.5 million people in Niger and 733,000 in Mali. These climate shocks affect both displaced populations and host communities, creating additional humanitarian needs and potentially triggering further displacement.
Internal Displacement: The Hidden Crisis
Most people who are forced to flee never cross an international border, remaining displaced within their own countries. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) often face similar challenges to refugees but lack the international legal protections afforded to those who cross borders.
The scale of internal displacement is enormous. The number of IDPs grew by 9 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 73.5 million by the end of 2024. However, there are some positive trends, as in the first 6 months of this year, almost 5 million internally displaced people returned to their place of origin, more than 2.5 times the returns reported in the same period in 2024.
Specific countries face particularly severe internal displacement crises. In Yemen, the total number of IDPs within the country stood at 4.8 million by the end of 2024. The humanitarian needs are staggering, as more than 18 million people – half the country’s population – remain dependent on humanitarian assistance and protection.
Statelessness: A Compounding Vulnerability
Statelessness represents an additional layer of vulnerability for many displaced people. At mid-2025, an estimated 4.4 million people were reported to be stateless or of undetermined nationality, a slight increase from recent years. However, the true number of stateless people is considered to be much higher than the reported global total.
The largest stateless population at mid-2025 remained the Rohingya from Myanmar (1.8 million). Statelessness creates profound challenges, as people without nationality often cannot access basic services, travel legally, or enjoy fundamental rights. In 2024, 47,200 stateless people acquired citizenship or had their nationality confirmed. Compared to 2023, this represents a 47 percent increase in the number of people who received citizenship.
Refugee Returns and Durable Solutions
While much attention focuses on displacement, returns represent a crucial aspect of refugee dynamics. Almost 2 million refugees returned to their countries of origin during the first half of 2025 while 28,600 arrived through resettlement or sponsorship pathways (with or without UNHCR’s assistance). However, the sustainability of these returns varies significantly.
Returns often occur under challenging circumstances. In Sudan, returns have often occurred under adverse conditions, to small areas of relative stability, while fighting and new displacement continued elsewhere in the country. The conditions in countries of origin remain critical for determining whether returns are sustainable or whether people will be displaced again.
Resettlement Programs
Resettlement to third countries represents one durable solution for refugees, though it benefits only a small fraction of displaced people. In 2024, the number of refugees resettled in third countries surpassed annual targets. However, in the first half of 2025, 18 countries reported 28,700 arrivals through resettlement and sponsorship pathways. This is almost 3 times fewer than during the same period of 2024 and one-third lower than the average for the same period during the last five years.
Despite these challenges, overall, complementary pathways have increased, with 38 countries issuing permits to over 1.7 million refugees between 2016 and 2023. Expanding these pathways could provide more refugees with access to safety and opportunities for rebuilding their lives.
Urban Displacement: Refugees in Cities
Increasingly, refugees are settling in urban areas rather than camps. This shift reflects refugees’ desire for economic opportunities, access to services, and integration into normal community life. Major cities around the world host substantial refugee populations, often concentrated in specific neighborhoods or districts.
Urban displacement presents both opportunities and challenges. Cities offer diverse economic opportunities and access to services, but refugees in urban areas may face housing insecurity, exploitation, and social isolation. Giza in Egypt hosted 446,700 refugees and asylum-seekers who had fled to the country, with most of whom were Sudanese (354,700), Syrian (39,600) or Eritrean (36,700) at end-2024.
Regional Displacement Crises
The Sahel Region
The Sahel region of Africa faces a complex humanitarian crisis driven by conflict, climate change, and political instability. Conflict and insecurity are intensifying, with the region accounting for more than half of all terrorism-related deaths worldwide. Political instability has also deteriorated due to persistent insecurity and economic hardship.
Climate change compounds these challenges. In addition, the region increasingly suffers from extreme weather events. The combination of conflict and climate shocks creates a vicious cycle of displacement and vulnerability, with the proportion of the population in the region facing extreme hunger expected to increase by 20 per cent by June 2025.
Central America and the Northern Triangle
Gang-related violence, food insecurity, increasing poverty and climate change are driving forced displacement in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Nearly 320,000 people are internally displaced across El Salvador, Guatemala, and tens of thousands seek refuge in neighboring countries. This displacement often goes unrecognized in international discussions focused on irregular migration.
The Middle East
The Middle East continues to host massive displaced populations, primarily from Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. By the end of 2024, Iraq hosted around 338,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, including 304,000 Syrians mostly of Kurdish ethnicity. Simultaneously, 1.5 million Iraqi people remain forcibly displaced, seeking asylum in 97 different countries. Iraq also has more than 1 million IDPs.
The Impact on Host Communities
Hosting large refugee populations creates significant impacts on local communities, both positive and negative. On the positive side, refugees contribute to local economies through labor, entrepreneurship, and consumption. They bring skills, diversity, and cultural richness to host communities.
However, large influxes can also strain local infrastructure, services, and resources, particularly in low-income countries with limited capacity. Competition for jobs, housing, and services can create tensions between refugees and host communities. Successful refugee hosting requires adequate international support to ensure that both refugees and host communities benefit.
Mapping and Data Challenges
Accurately mapping refugee populations presents significant challenges. The reported sub-national data remains unavailable or incomplete for several countries hosting a large number of refugees, asylum-seekers or other people in need of international protection, including Colombia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye, the United States of America and several European countries.
Data limitations affect our understanding of displacement patterns and humanitarian needs. This is because under half of all countries do not report any data on statelessness to UNHCR, including several with significant known stateless populations, and some countries provide data for only a portion of the stateless population within their borders. Improving data collection and sharing is essential for effective humanitarian response and policy development.
The Role of International Cooperation
Addressing global displacement requires international cooperation and burden-sharing. The Global Compact on Refugees provides a framework for more equitable responsibility-sharing, though implementation remains challenging. There has been a modest but consistent improvement in burden- and responsibility-sharing since the affirmation of the GCR. However, it remains evident that only a small fraction of global wealth continues to bear the bulk of the responsibility.
International organizations like UNHCR, IOM, and various NGOs play crucial roles in providing protection and assistance to displaced populations. In 2024, UNHCR aimed to protect and assist a global population of 129.9 million people, including refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people, returnees and stateless people. However, these organizations face chronic underfunding and increasing needs.
Future Trends and Challenges
The future trajectory of global displacement depends on multiple factors. Whether this trend continues or reverses during the rest of 2025 will largely depend on whether peace or at least a cessation in fighting is possible to achieve, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Ukraine; whether the situation in South Sudan does not deteriorate further; whether conditions for return improve, in particular in Afghanistan and Syria; and how dire the impact of the current funding cuts will be on the capacity to address forced displacement situations around the world and create conducive conditions for a safe and dignified return.
Climate change will likely play an increasing role in displacement patterns. In 2024, one in three emergencies declared by UNHCR responded to the impacts of climate shocks – from flooding in Brazil and the Sahel to drought in Zambia. As climate change intensifies, displacement driven by environmental factors may increase, particularly in vulnerable regions.
Demographic factors will also shape displacement. At the end of 2024, of the 123.2 million forcibly displaced people, an estimated 49 million (40 per cent) are children. This young demographic profile has implications for education, child protection, and long-term integration needs.
Conclusion: Toward More Equitable Solutions
Mapping the distribution of refugee populations worldwide reveals profound inequities in how the international community responds to displacement. The countries least able to afford hosting refugees bear the greatest burden, while wealthier nations host a minority of displaced people. This pattern is neither sustainable nor just.
Addressing global displacement requires comprehensive approaches that tackle root causes, provide adequate support to host countries, expand legal pathways for refugees, and facilitate sustainable solutions. The search for peace must be at the heart of all efforts to find long-lasting solutions for refugees and others forced to flee their homes.
Understanding the geographic distribution of refugees is not merely an academic exercise—it is essential for developing effective policies, allocating resources appropriately, and ensuring that humanitarian responses meet the needs of displaced populations and host communities alike. As displacement continues to affect millions worldwide, the international community must work toward more equitable burden-sharing and sustainable solutions that uphold the rights and dignity of all displaced people.
For more information on global refugee statistics and displacement trends, visit the UNHCR Refugee Data Finder. To learn about humanitarian responses to displacement crises, explore resources from the UN Refugee Agency. For insights into internal displacement specifically, consult the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Those interested in supporting refugee assistance can find opportunities through organizations like the International Rescue Committee and Norwegian Refugee Council.