The United Nations reported Thursday that while the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has slightly decreased from a record high, it remains “untenably high.”
At the end of 2024, UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, recorded a staggering 123.2 million people displaced from their homes globally.
By the end of April this year, that number dipped to 122.1 million, driven largely by the return of nearly 2 million Syrians after years of conflict and turmoil.
However, UNHCR cautioned that the trajectory of major global conflicts will be key in determining whether displacement numbers climb again.
The agency said the number of people displaced by war, violence and persecution worldwide was "untenably high," particularly at a time when humanitarian funding is evaporating.
“We are living in a time of intense volatility in international relations, with modern warfare creating a fragile, harrowing landscape marked by acute human suffering,” said Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.
“We must redouble our efforts to search for peace and find long-lasting solutions for refugees and others forced to flee their homes.”
The main drivers of displacement remain sprawling conflicts like those in Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, UNHCR said in its flagship annual Global Trends report.
Syria’s brutal civil war erupted in 2011, but President Bashar al-Assad was finally overthrown in December 2024.
The report said the first months of this year saw rising numbers of Syrians returning home.
As of mid-May, more than 500,000 Syrians are estimated to have crossed back into the country since the fall of Assad, while an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin since the end of November.
UNHCR estimates that up to 1.5 million Syrians from abroad and 2 million IDPs may return by the end of 2025.
Sudan is now the world’s largest forced displacement situation, with 14.3 million refugees and IDPs, overtaking Syria (13.5 million), followed by Afghanistan (10.3 million) and Ukraine (8.8 million).
“During the remainder of 2025, much will depend on the dynamics in key situations,” the annual report said.
“This includes whether peace, or at least a cessation in fighting, is possible to achieve, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Ukraine.”
It also depends on whether conditions for returns improve in Afghanistan and Syria.
Another factor is “how dire the impact of the current funding cuts will be” on responding to displacement and creating conditions for safe and dignified returns.
The number of people forced to flee persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order has almost doubled in the last decade.
The figure of 123.2 million worldwide at the end of last year was up 7 million compared with the end of 2023.
“One in 67 people globally were forcibly displaced at the end of 2024,” UNHCR said.
In total, 9.8 million forcibly displaced people returned home in 2024, including 1.6 million refugees — the most in more than two decades — and 8.2 million IDPs — the second highest ever.
“We have seen some rays of hope over the last six months,” Grandi said.
But countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan saw significant new forced displacements as well as returns.
Two-thirds of refugees stay in neighboring countries.
Iran (3.5 million), Türkiye (2.9 million), Colombia (2.8 million), Germany (2.7 million) and Uganda (1.8 million) host the largest refugee populations.
