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Health & Population

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin

Refugees under the mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) include individuals recognized under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the refugee definition contained in the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees as incorporated into national laws, those recognized in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, individuals granted complementary forms of protection, and those enjoying temporary protection. The refugee population also includes people in a refugee-like situation, which is a category that is descriptive in nature and includes groups of people who are outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained. Refugees under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Palestine Refugees, are not typically included in the statistics on refugees (and people in a refugee-like situation) under the mandate of the UNHCR.

World Bank code: SM.POP.RHCR.EO • Data available for 201 countries • Latest year: 2024

In , Syrian Arab Republic led Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin at 5.95M.

The world median across 196 reporting countries was 1,283.00.

What this measures: Refugees under the mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) include individuals recognized under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the refugee definition contained in the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees as incorporated into national laws, those recognized in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, individuals granted complementary forms of protection, and those enjoying temporary protection. The refugee population also includes people in a refugee-like situation, which is a category that is descriptive in nature and includes groups of people who are outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained. Refugees under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Palestine Refugees, are not typically included in the statistics on refugees (and people in a refugee-like situation) under the mandate of the UNHCR.

How "Health & Population" indicators are measured

Health and population indicators come from national vital-registration systems, demographic and health surveys, and modeling by the UN Population Division and WHO. Mortality and morbidity estimates are often modeled rather than directly observed in lower-capacity statistical systems, which means some figures are interpolations between survey years. Life expectancy is a "period" measure based on current age-specific mortality, not a forecast of how long someone born today will actually live.

Distribution — 2024

Reporting
196 countries
Median
1,283.00
Mean
155,831.66
25th percentile
111.00
75th percentile
17,235.00
Range
0.00 – 5.95M

World at a Glance — 2024

Every reporting country, grouped by region, shaded by value (quintile).

East Asia & PacificAustralia: 31.00AUBrunei Darussalam: 0.00BNCambodia: 11,474.00KHChina: 153,564.00CNFiji: 248.00FJHong Kong SAR, China: 240.00HKIndonesia: 9,172.00IDJapan: 55.00JPKiribati: 5.00KIKorea, Dem. People's Rep.: 283.00KPKorea, Rep.: 142.00KRLao PDR: 6,556.00LAMacao SAR, China: 15.00MOMalaysia: 1,209.00MYMarshall Islands: 0.00MHMongolia: 2,501.00MNMyanmar: 1.32MMMNauru: 5.00NRNew Zealand: 52.00NZPapua New Guinea: 504.00PGPhilippines: 785.00PHSamoa: 8.00WSSingapore: 45.00SGSolomon Islands: 44.00SBThailand: 300.00THTimor-Leste: 5.00TLTonga: 42.00TOTuvalu: 0.00TVVanuatu: 5.00VUViet Nam: 19,961.00VNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: 21,875.00ALAndorra: 5.00ADArmenia: 15,933.00AMAustria: 33.00ATAzerbaijan: 153,154.00AZBelarus: 17,704.00BYBelgium: 93.00BEBosnia and Herzegovina: 26,821.00BABulgaria: 498.00BGCroatia: 17,891.00HRCyprus: 10.00CYCzechia: 1,057.00CZDenmark: 16.00DKEstonia: 126.00EEFinland: 5.00FIFrance: 139.00FRGeorgia: 16,554.00GEGermany: 348.00DEGreece: 97.00GRHungary: 1,984.00HUIceland: 0.00ISIreland: 68.00IEItaly: 263.00ITKazakhstan: 4,119.00KZKyrgyz Republic: 3,400.00KGLatvia: 179.00LVLithuania: 111.00LTLuxembourg: 5.00LUMoldova: 6,236.00MDMontenegro: 763.00MENetherlands: 136.00NLNorth Macedonia: 2,013.00MKNorway: 22.00NOPoland: 1,528.00PLPortugal: 110.00PTRomania: 2,919.00RORussian Federation: 96,869.00RUSerbia: 31,438.00RSSlovak Republic: 664.00SKSlovenia: 17.00SISpain: 174.00ESSweden: 98.00SESwitzerland: 5.00CHTajikistan: 4,045.00TJTurkiye: 139,640.00TRTurkmenistan: 2,580.00TMUkraine: 5.12MUAUnited Kingdom: 417.00GBUzbekistan: 5,152.00UZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 91.00AGArgentina: 464.00ARBahamas, The: 1,449.00BSBarbados: 415.00BBBelize: 104.00BZBolivia: 612.00BOBrazil: 5,072.00BRBritish Virgin Islands: 0.00VGChile: 4,809.00CLColombia: 77,775.00COCosta Rica: 316.00CRCuba: 23,865.00CUCuracao: 8.00CWDominica: 88.00DMDominican Republic: 1,080.00DOEcuador: 5,015.00ECEl Salvador: 71,765.00SVGrenada: 100.00GDGuatemala: 36,323.00GTGuyana: 313.00GYHaiti: 148,252.00HTHonduras: 100,969.00HNJamaica: 2,552.00JMMexico: 39,241.00MXNicaragua: 30,020.00NIPanama: 333.00PAParaguay: 170.00PYPeru: 6,459.00PEPuerto Rico (US): 0.00PRSt. Kitts and Nevis: 27.00KNSt. Lucia: 160.00LCSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: 186.00VCSuriname: 50.00SRTrinidad and Tobago: 474.00TTTurks and Caicos Islands: 14.00TCUruguay: 131.00UYVenezuela, RB: 370,169.00VEMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 5.77MAFAlgeria: 8,800.00DZBahrain: 289.00BHDjibouti: 2,055.00DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 23,736.00EGIran, Islamic Rep.: 158,171.00IRIraq: 305,504.00IQIsrael: 1,307.00ILJordan: 4,990.00JOKuwait: 3,019.00KWLebanon: 9,534.00LBLibya: 17,235.00LYMalta: 10.00MTMorocco: 10,609.00MAOman: 118.00OMPakistan: 86,285.00PKQatar: 65.00QASaudi Arabia: 2,332.00SASyrian Arab Republic: 5.95MSYTunisia: 3,593.00TNUnited Arab Emirates: 261.00AEWest Bank and Gaza: 43,712.00PSYemen, Rep.: 51,384.00YENorth AmericaBermuda: 5.00BMCanada: 309.00CAUnited States: 4,004.00USSouth AsiaBangladesh: 28,473.00BDBhutan: 7,433.00BTIndia: 39,303.00INMaldives: 76.00MVNepal: 7,840.00NPSri Lanka: 147,033.00LKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 12,545.00AOBenin: 1,064.00BJBotswana: 249.00BWBurkina Faso: 150,081.00BFBurundi: 322,462.00BICabo Verde: 14.00CVCameroon: 109,879.00CMCentral African Republic: 693,488.00CFChad: 14,617.00TDComoros: 2,322.00KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 1.06MCDCongo, Rep.: 14,110.00CGCote d'Ivoire: 29,442.00CIEquatorial Guinea: 426.00GQEritrea: 551,296.00EREswatini: 150.00SZEthiopia: 164,423.00ETGabon: 948.00GAGambia, The: 8,140.00GMGhana: 15,078.00GHGuinea: 42,096.00GNGuinea-Bissau: 1,900.00GWKenya: 11,696.00KELesotho: 25.00LSLiberia: 5,086.00LRMadagascar: 604.00MGMalawi: 570.00MWMali: 354,075.00MLMauritania: 38,111.00MRMauritius: 263.00MUMozambique: 114.00MZNamibia: 646.00NANiger: 44,119.00NENigeria: 467,605.00NGRwanda: 249,096.00RWSao Tome and Principe: 5.00STSenegal: 12,947.00SNSeychelles: 10.00SCSierra Leone: 8,042.00SLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 894,120.00SOSouth Africa: 1,174.00ZASouth Sudan: 2.29MSSSudan: 2.09MSDTanzania: 1,259.00TZTogo: 12,685.00TGUganda: 10,384.00UGZambia: 337.00ZMZimbabwe: 8,002.00ZW

Lighter = lower value · Darker = higher value. Hover a cell to see the country and value.

Highest Values — 2024

# Country Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin
1 Syrian Arab Republic Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 5.952M
2 Afghanistan Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 5.767M
3 Ukraine Europe & Central Asia 5.120M
4 South Sudan Sub-Saharan Africa 2.291M
5 Sudan Sub-Saharan Africa 2.094M
6 Myanmar East Asia & Pacific 1.323M
7 Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa 1.060M
8 Somalia, Fed. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa 894,120.00
9 Central African Republic Sub-Saharan Africa 693,488.00
10 Eritrea Sub-Saharan Africa 551,296.00

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin.

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Biggest Movers — Year over Year

Largest increases

Largest decreases

By Income Group — Average

Income group Countries Mean
High income 67 2,187.78
Upper middle income 53 122,438.47
Lower middle income 49 57,881.78
Low income 25 821,455.48
Not classified 2 267,296.00

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 30 50,991.80
Europe & Central Asia 49 116,272.45
Latin America & Caribbean 37 25,104.62
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 23 541,381.26
North America 3 1,439.33
South Asia 6 38,359.67
Sub-Saharan Africa 48 202,099.71

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin
1 Brunei Darussalam 0.00
2 Marshall Islands 0.00
3 Tuvalu 0.00
4 Iceland 0.00
5 British Virgin Islands 0.00
6 Puerto Rico (US) 0.00
7 Bermuda 5.00
8 Timor-Leste 5.00
9 Finland 5.00
10 Vanuatu 5.00
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Source: World Bank Open Data (SM.POP.RHCR.EO), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.