The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that the number of people forced to flee their homes worldwide because of war, violence and persecution remains disproportionately high, while the volume of humanitarian aid has fallen substantially. The only positive trend is a slight increase in the number of refugees from certain countries, especially Syria, who have been able to return home.
According to UNHCR's annual global trends report published on 12 June, there were 122.1 million forcibly displaced people worldwide by the end of April 2025, compared with 120 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. These figures reflect a decade of annual increases in the number of refugees and other displaced people compelled to leave their homes. Large-scale conflicts, such as those in Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, together with a prolonged failure to halt active hostilities, are the main reasons for the high number of refugees.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, stressed: “We are living in a time of intense volatility in international relations, and modern warfare creates an unstable environment marked by great human suffering. We must strengthen our efforts to find peace and long-term solutions for refugees and others forced to leave their homes.”
Forcibly displaced people include refugees who have left their own countries because of conflict (42.7 million) and people displaced within their own country. The number of internally displaced people has risen sharply, reaching 73.5 million at the end of 2024, which is 6.3 million more than in 2023. Sudan currently has the largest number of forcibly displaced people in the world — 14.3 million refugees and internally displaced people — followed by Syria with 13.5 million, Afghanistan with 10.3 million and Ukraine with 8.8 million.
Data from UNHCR's annual report show that, contrary to a widely held view in the world's wealthier regions, 67% of refugees stay in neighbouring countries, while low- and middle-income countries host 73% of the world's refugees. And 60% of people forced to flee their homes never leave their own country.
Although the number of forcibly displaced people has almost doubled over the past decade, UNHCR's funding, having weathered dramatic cuts in humanitarian aid, currently stands at roughly the same level as in 2015. The situation is extremely difficult, leaving refugees and others fleeing danger even more vulnerable.
“Despite the considerable reduction in humanitarian funding, we have seen some rays of hope over the past six months,” Grandi added. “Almost two million Syrians have been able to return home after more than ten years. The country remains unstable, and its people need our help to rebuild their lives.” In total, 9.8 million forcibly displaced people returned home in 2024, including 1.6 million refugees (the highest number in more than 20 years) and 8.2 million internally displaced people (the second highest number ever recorded).
In many cases, however, people returned home even though the political or security situation in the country was not favourable. In 2024, for example, large numbers of Afghans were forced to return home to Afghanistan, where conditions were dire. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan, meanwhile, the return of refugees and internally displaced people coincided with new, large-scale forced displacements.
The report calls for continued funding of UNHCR programmes that save lives and help refugees and internally displaced people return home, as well as strengthening the necessary infrastructure and social services in host communities, thereby making a significant contribution to regional and global security.