GENEVA / EuroWire / – Global refugee numbers fell in 2025 for the first time in a decade, but forced displacement remained near record levels. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said 117.8 million people lived in forced displacement at year end. The total covers refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people and others needing international protection. The figure was 5.4 million lower than at the end of 2024. It still meant one in every 70 people worldwide had fled home.
The global refugee population declined by 3% to 41.6 million at the end of 2025. That figure included refugees under the U.N. mandate, people in refugee-like situations, others needing international protection and Palestine refugees under UNRWA. Another 9 million people had asylum claims pending. The decline reflected larger returns to Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan. UNHCR said many returns took place in difficult conditions, with reintegration still marked by weak services and limited jobs.
Internal displacement remained the largest part of the crisis. At the end of 2025, 68.7 million people remained displaced inside their own countries because of conflict or violence. That was down 7% from the end of 2024. Sudan remained the largest internal displacement crisis, with 9.1 million people displaced within the country. Large movements also continued in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Returns rise as conditions remain fraagile
Returns increased sharply during 2025. About 14.7 million displaced people went back to their countries or areas of origin. The total included nearly 4.4 million refugees and 10.3 million internally displaced people. Returns rose 49% from 2024. Refugee returns reached their second-highest level since UNHCR began reporting such data in 1965. Most returns took place in a small group of countries affected by war and instability.
Afghanistan recorded one of the largest changes. About 2.9 million Afghans returned in 2025, while the number of Afghan refugees and others needing international protection fell 36% to about 3.7 million. Four in five remained hosted in Iran and Pakistan. Syria also saw large returns after years as one of the world’s biggest displacement crises. About 1.3 million Syrians returned from abroad in 2025, while the Syrian refugee total stood at 4.9 million.
Long exile still defines refugee crisis
Long-term displacement remained widespread despite the decline in headline totals. Seven in ten refugees came from six countries: Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. Most people who crossed borders stayed close to home. At year end, 65% of refugees lived in neighboring countries. Low- and middle-income countries hosted 68% of refugees and others needing international protection. Children accounted for 39% of the global refugee population.
The figures showed fewer people displaced at year end, but they also showed continued pressure on host countries and return areas. Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Uganda, Iran, Chad and Pakistan hosted the largest refugee and protection populations. Governments reported that 81,800 refugees resettled or arrived through sponsorship routes in 2025. A further 93,500 refugees gained naturalization or permanent residency. The report placed refugee numbers, returns and internal displacement among the main global indicators for conflict-linked human movement.