See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Visualizing the State of Refugees by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
30,510,629—That’s the number of refugees the world had in 2023 according to documented refugees by the UNHCR. These are the people who left their homeland to find a safe refuge in a foreign country.
In fact, according to the the UN’s refugee agency, there were a total of 110 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. Of those, a vast majority (almost 60%) were internally displaced, while the rest were the 30.5 million refugees charted above by Preyash Shah.
52% of Asylum Seekers Came from Three Countries in 2023
More than half of the refugees under UNHCR’s mandate originate from only three countries: Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Here is the breakdown by country of origin, including not fully recognized countries and refugees of unknown origin.
Country of OriginRefugees
Syria6,494,141
Afghanistan6,110,219
Ukraine5,865,447
South Sudan2,227,684
Myanmar1,266,022
Sudan1,027,070
Dem. Rep. of the Congo948,417
Somalia814,561
Central African Rep.750,875
Eritrea537,161
Nigeria381,149
Iraq330,667
Burundi323,487
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)300,759
Rwanda249,543
Mali233,188
China161,574
Sri Lanka147,624
Iran (Islamic Rep. of)147,238
Ethiopia145,039
Cameroon133,945
Haiti116,463
Türkiye115,708
Pakistan115,662
Unknown114,949
Colombia111,394
Palestine106,426
Western Sahara91,016
Russian Federation85,382
Honduras72,341
El Salvador62,248
Stateless56,281
Yemen43,526
Azerbaijan43,305
Burkina Faso43,124
Guinea38,089
Mauritania37,216
Guatemala32,220
Serbia and Kosovo30,333
Bangladesh25,311
Cote d’Ivoire25,264
Egypt24,652
Niger23,280
India23,243
Albania21,750
Bosnia and Herzegovina19,326
Mexico18,944
Libya18,559
Nicaragua18,545
Viet Nam18,045
Croatia17,587
Cuba15,981
Armenia15,553
Ghana14,733
Georgia14,426
Belarus13,564
Senegal13,462
Congo13,224
Tibet12,555
Angola12,456
Indonesia11,820
Cambodia11,670
Gambia10,964
Morocco10,451
Chad9,448
Togo7,963
Algeria7,788
Uganda7,719
Kenya7,594
Lebanon7,467
Nepal7,314
Zimbabwe7,268
Sierra Leone6,990
Bhutan6,682
Lao People’s Dem. Rep.6,641
Moldova5,611
Liberia4,914
Uzbekistan4,551
Peru4,481
Jordan3,889
Ecuador3,774
Kazakhstan3,748
Tajikistan3,679
Kyrgyzstan3,334
Brazil3,248
Tunisia2,930
Turkmenistan2,874
Mongolia2,420
Guinea-Bissau2,106
Saudi Arabia2,100
Comoros2,074
Kuwait2,030
Jamaica1,993
Hungary1,987
North Macedonia1,862
Djibouti1,787
Romania1,764
Chile1,619
Malaysia1,380
United States1,287
Poland953
Bahamas945
Benin862
United Rep. of Tanzania852
Gabon825
Israel813
South Africa811
Dominican Rep.804
Montenegro613
Slovakia612
Papua New Guinea610
Czechia608
Philippines603
Bolivia564
Madagascar535
Malawi506
Bulgaria395
Equatorial Guinea383
Bahrain336
Namibia335
Fiji332
Zambia303
Trinidad and Tobago301
Barbados280
Argentina268
Guyana248
Dem. People’s Rep. of Korea239
Costa Rica227
United Kingdom227
Thailand218
Mauritius214
Hong Kong SAR210
United Arab Emirates209
Canada201
Panama190
Paraguay156
Germany148
Latvia143
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines133
Italy132
Eswatini122
Rep. of Korea120
Greece119
Mozambique111
Botswana102
Saint Lucia98
Uruguay91
Maldives90
Oman78
Belize65
Dominica63
Estonia62
Spain62
Lithuania57
Netherlands57
Antigua and Barbuda55
France55
Grenada54
Japan51
Qatar49
New Zealand48
Solomon Islands46
Portugal43
Suriname41
Tonga40
Singapore37
Australia29
Austria28
Saint Kitts and Nevis22
Curacao21
Sweden19
Turks and Caicos Islands19
Guadeloupe17
Belgium12
Lesotho12
French Guiana11
Sao Tome and Principe11
Cabo Verde10
Macao SAR10
Norway10
Seychelles9
Niue8
Samoa8
Slovenia7
Ireland6
Timor-Leste6
Liechtenstein5
Luxembourg5
Nauru5
Vanuatu5
On the flip side, Iran and Turkey hosted the most refugees in the world in 2023, around 3.4 million people each. Germany comes in third with 2.5 million refugees, and Pakistan rounds out the top four with 2.1 million refugees.
Host CountryRefugees
Iran (Islamic Rep. of)3,443,522
Türkiye3,368,976
Germany2,509,506
Pakistan2,080,501
Uganda1,512,681
Russian Federation1,249,342
Poland989,877
Bangladesh961,801
Sudan926,433
Ethiopia921,822
Lebanon799,175
Chad762,731
Jordan695,821
France641,626
Dem. Rep. of the Congo520,073
Kenya519,353
Cameroon469,277
United States389,335
Spain369,722
United Kingdom365,262
Czechia351,338
South Sudan314,883
Italy308,663
Egypt300,128
Iraq279,240
Austria277,158
Sweden258,117
Niger251,755
India247,822
Netherlands224,320
United Rep. of Tanzania203,605
Brazil193,976
Bulgaria189,577
Switzerland189,100
Greece169,393
Belgium156,921
Canada150,192
Romania139,081
Malaysia133,821
Rwanda118,497
Moldova106,945
Mexico105,272
Slovakia105,104
Mauritania103,441
Algeria99,389
Ireland99,048
Thailand94,938
Nigeria92,964
Norway86,449
Burundi84,187
Finland80,189
Lithuania73,170
Denmark69,337
Zambia66,513
Mali63,999
South Africa62,537
Ecuador61,441
Portugal59,311
Hungary57,939
Yemen57,449
Australia54,430
Afghanistan52,162
Latvia45,237
Congo42,172
Montenegro40,597
Estonia40,371
Burkina Faso36,226
Malawi34,972
Armenia34,757
Cyprus33,872
Belarus31,602
Serbia and Kosovo30,866
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)29,339
Georgia26,096
Angola24,983
Croatia23,789
Djibouti21,612
Nepal19,562
Togo18,846
Somalia16,736
Costa Rica15,611
Japan15,451
Uzbekistan13,025
Syria13,024
Senegal11,821
Malta11,413
Central African Rep.11,322
Slovenia10,684
Luxembourg10,639
Papua New Guinea10,516
Zimbabwe10,181
Indonesia9,227
North Macedonia8,252
Morocco8,244
Tajikistan8,177
Ghana6,866
Peru6,751
Azerbaijan6,280
Iceland6,193
Paraguay5,891
Mozambique5,331
Namibia4,895
Argentina4,109
Rep. of Korea3,907
Albania3,828
Gambia3,749
Tunisia3,409
Trinidad and Tobago3,407
Benin2,675
Panama2,596
Ukraine2,532
Cote d’Ivoire2,293
Guinea2,201
Chile2,173
New Zealand1,787
Libya1,552
Colombia1,497
United Arab Emirates1,393
Uruguay1,222
Israel1,221
Eswatini1,180
Liberia1,146
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)1,116
Philippines903
Guatemala788
Botswana754
Kuwait693
Dominican Rep.665
Liechtenstein605
Sri Lanka567
Saudi Arabia473
Kazakhstan345
Nicaragua311
Bosnia and Herzegovina310
Lesotho308
Hong Kong SAR304
Oman295
China287
Bahrain255
Kyrgyzstan253
Gabon205
Qatar193
Honduras176
Cuba157
Belize145
Eritrea119
El Salvador106
Madagascar52
Cayman Islands47
Guyana32
Jamaica31
Suriname25
Guinea-Bissau24
Cambodia24
Viet Nam19
Monaco17
Fiji16
Turkmenistan14
Mongolia10
Bahamas10
Comoros10
Barbados10
Turks and Caicos Islands7
Mauritius5
Three-quarters (75%) of the world’s refugees and people needing international protection were hosted in low-and-middle-income countries. Among them, the least developed countries took in one-fifth (20%) of the total.
But while the statistics of refugees by country may paint a grim picture, there is reason for hope. In the first six months of 2023, just over 404,000 refugees returned to their countries of origin, more than double compared to the same period in 2022.
The post Visualizing the State of Refugees by Country appeared first on Visual Capitalist.