As of the end of 2024, Iran was the largest refugee-hosting country in the world. According to data available by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, there were nearly 3.5 million refugees in Iran. Turkey was second with more than 2.9 million. The data refers to the total number of refugees in a given country, not considering the date of their application for asylum or the date of their flight.

Over 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine due to the Russian invasion fled to Germany as of April 2025. Furthermore, the second-highest number was recorded in Poland. In total, around 5.1 million Ukrainian refugees were registered across Europe and 5.6 million worldwide as of May 2025. Most of them fled the country by crossing the border with Poland. Ukrainian refugees in Germany The first increases in the number of Ukrainian refugees in Germany were registered in March and April 2022. The figure exceeded one million refugees in September of that year. Germany had the highest monthly financial allowance for Ukrainians who fled the war compared to other European countries as of June 2022. Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees in the EU European Union (EU) members implemented the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), which guaranteed access to accommodation, welfare, and healthcare to refugees from Ukraine. People fleeing the war had a right to a residence permit in the EU, enter the labor market, and enroll children in educational institutions. The protection is granted until March 4, 2026, but it can be extended in the future depending on the situation in the country.

United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data was reported at 285.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 310.000 Person for 2016. United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data is updated yearly, averaging 374.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,987.000 Person in 2014 and a record low of 1.000 Person in 1990. United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Argentina AR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 4,104.000 Person in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 4,094.000 Person for 2022. Argentina AR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 10,430.000 Person from Dec 1969 (Median) to 2023, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 47,000.000 Person in 1974 and a record low of 2,259.000 Person in 1998. Argentina AR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Argentina – Table AR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.;United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNRWA through UNHCR's Refugee Data Finder at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.;Sum;

Sweden SE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 240,899.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 230,164.000 Person for 2016. Sweden SE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 136,633.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 240,899.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 73,408.000 Person in 2004. Sweden SE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

In 2024, Turkey was the country that hosted the highest number of Syrian refugees, amounting up to 2.9 million refugees. Lebanon was second, hosting 755,426 Syrian refugees. The data refers to the total number of Syrian refugees in a given country, not considering the date of their application for asylum or the date of their flight.

Resettled refugees who arrived in Canada as part of the Government of Canada's Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program. Datasets include resettled refugees who have received settlement services. Please note that in these datasets, the figures have been suppressed or rounded to prevent the identification of individuals when the datasets are compiled and compared with other publicly available statistics. Values between 0 and 5 are shown as “--“ and all other values are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. This may result to the sum of the figures not equating to the totals indicated. Please note that the datasets will not be updated.

Ireland IE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 5,655.000 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6,125.000 Person for 2015. Ireland IE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 5,655.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9,730.000 Person in 2008 and a record low of 69.000 Person in 1996. Ireland IE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ireland – Table IE.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

This dataset provides detailed statistics on the movements and status of refugees, asylum-seekers, and other individuals of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 2019 to 2024. 📊 It covers various categories such as refugees under UNHCR's mandate, asylum-seekers, returned refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returned IDPs, stateless persons, and others of concern. The data is disaggregated by the country of origin and the country of asylum, offering a comprehensive view of global refugee and asylum trends. 🌍

Data Source: Extracted from: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 🏦 Data Link: UNHCR Data Portal

Key Features: Year: The year of the data. Country of Origin: The country from which the individuals are originating. Country of Asylum: The country where the individuals are seeking refuge. Refugees: The number of refugees under UNHCR's mandate. Asylum-Seekers: The number of individuals seeking asylum. Returned Refugees: The number of individuals who have returned to their country of origin. IDPs of Concern to UNHCR: The number of internally displaced persons of concern to UNHCR. Returned IDPs: The number of internally displaced persons who returned. ** Stateless Persons**: The number of stateless individuals. Others of Concern: The number of other individuals of concern to UNHCR. Other People in Need of International Protection: The number of other people in need of international protection. Host Community: The number of individuals in the host community.

Potential Use Cases: Research and Analysis: Analyze global trends in refugee and asylum-seeker movements. 📈 Policy Making: Inform policy decisions and humanitarian aid efforts. 🛠️ Data Visualization: Create visualizations to better understand the distribution and movement of refugees and asylum-seekers. 📊 Educational Purposes: Use the data to teach about global migration patterns and humanitarian issues. 📚

As of the end of 2024, Syria had the highest number of refugees who had fled the country. That year, about 5.95 million refugees had left the country, mainly due to the civil war that started in 2011. The second highest number of refugees in the world came from Afghanistan after years of civil wars, instability, and the Taliban regaining power in 2021. Third on the list is Ukraine, after almost six million people left the country since Russia's invasion in February 2022. What are refugees? Refugees are people who have been forced to leave their country because of dangerous circumstances, such as war, violence, famine, or persecution. These circumstances arise from race, religious, ethnic, and/or political persecution, and refugees are unable to return to their home countries due to these conflicts. As of 2024, Turkey hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees. Refugees worldwide The number of refugees, internally displaced people, and asylum seekers worldwide has significantly increased since 2012, much due to the civil wars in Syria and Libya that started in 2011, but also due to increasing instability in the Sahel, the Sudan civil war, the Israel-Hamas war, and the Russia-Ukraine war. An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to leave their home but still stays in their country. They are not legally considered a refugee. Asylum seekers are people who leave their home country and enter another country to apply for asylum, which is internationally recognized protection.

Context:

The mass movement of uprooted people is a highly charged geopolitical issue. This data, gathered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), covers movement of displaced persons (asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced persons (IDP), stateless). Also included are destination country responses to asylum petitions.

Content:

This dataset includes 6 csv files covering:

• Asylum monthly applications opened (asylum_seekers_monthly.csv)
• Yearly progress through the refugee system (asylum_seekers.csv)
• Refugee demographics (demographics.csv)
• Yearly time series data on UNHCR’s populations of concern (time_series.csv)
• Yearly population statistics on refugees by residence and destination (persons_of_concern.csv)
• Yearly data on resettlement arrivals, with or without UNHCR assistance (resettlement.csv)

Acknowledgements:

This dataset was gathered from UNHCR. Photo by Ali Tareq.

Inspiration:

What are the most frequent destination countries for refugees? How has refugee flow changed? Any trends that could predict future refugee patterns?

Andorra AD: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data was reported at 5.000 Person in 2022. This stayed constant from the previous number of 5.000 Person for 2015. Andorra AD: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data is updated yearly, averaging 5.000 Person from Dec 2002 (Median) to 2022, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.000 Person in 2007 and a record low of 5.000 Person in 2022. Andorra AD: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Andorra – Table AD.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.;United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Refugee Data Finder at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.;Sum;

In 2023, member states of the European Union received in total 677,625 applications for asylum, of which almost half were rejected. Asylum seekers are people who have left their home countries due to a fear of persecution or violations of their human rights, often for political reasons. An asylum seeker becomes a refugee upon being granted asylum, with a number of rights such as being allowed to stay in the country of asylum for an extended period of time then being granted. In spite of the large numbers of refugees from fleeing from Ukraine into the European Union due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, these refugees are mostly not recorded in the data on asylum seekers in Europe, as most EU countries opted to grant refugee status to all Ukranian nationals fleeing the country immediately upon entry, therefore bypassing the need to make an asylum case. As of 2022, the country which received the greatest number of asylum applications (and which also granted the greatest number of applications) was Germany, which received almost 217,000 applications. France, the country which received the second highest number of asylum applications, granted far fewer people refugee status, denying almost three times as many applications as they granted. A small number of countries in the EU take on the vast majority of asylum seekers, with these countries - Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Belgium, and Sweden - exclusively coming from the older members of the EU, who joined before the 2004 enlargements.

Germany DE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 2,593,007.000 Person in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,075,445.000 Person for 2022. Germany DE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 580,792.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,593,007.000 Person in 2023 and a record low of 83,500.000 Person in 1978. Germany DE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Germany – Table DE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.;United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNRWA through UNHCR's Refugee Data Finder at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.;Sum;

Series Name: Number of refugees per 100 000 population by country of origin (per 100 000 population)Series Code: SM_POP_REFG_ORRelease Version: 2021.Q2.G.03 This dataset is part of the Global SDG Indicator Database compiled through the UN System in preparation for the Secretary-General's annual report on Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.Indicator 10.7.4: Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of originTarget 10.7: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policiesGoal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countriesFor more information on the compilation methodology of this dataset, see https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/

Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 274.000 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 301.000 Person for 2015. Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 133.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 301.000 Person in 2015 and a record low of 79.000 Person in 2000. Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uruguay – Table UY.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

During the fiscal year of 2024, 100,034 refugees were admitted to the United States. This is a significant increase from the fiscal year of 2023, when 60,014 refugees were admitted into the United States.

This statistic shows the number of accepted first instance asylum applications in some of the European countries in 2018, broken down by country. In 2018, Germany accepted the largest number of asylum seekers with 75,940. Sweden and Belgium accepted the second and third most respectively, with roughly 10.6 and 9.7 thousand applicants, respectively.

Belgium BE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 167,831.000 Person in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 150,713.000 Person for 2022. Belgium BE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 29,000.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 167,831.000 Person in 2023 and a record low of 11,100.000 Person in 1974. Belgium BE: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belgium – Table BE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.;United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNRWA through UNHCR's Refugee Data Finder at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.;Sum;

Information about asylum applications lodged in 38 European and 6 non-European countries. Data are broken down by month and origin. Where possible, figures exclude repeat/re-opened asylum applications and applications lodged on appeal or with courts. For some countries, the monthly data are available since 1999 while for others at a later period.