The Number of Forcibly Displaced Has Skyrocketed
The number of people reported by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as forcibly displaced worldwide has risen from around 24 million people in 1993 to over 120 million in 2024. According to the latest figures, just over half of those recorded as displaced in 2024 were internally displaced persons, accounting for some 73.5 million people.
The next biggest groups were refugees (31 million people) and asylum seekers (8.4 million). Unlike an internally displaced person, a refugee is someone who has crossed an international border after having been forced to flee conflict or persecution. Meanwhile, an asylum seeker is defined as someone who intends to seek or is awaiting a decision on their request for international protection.
It’s important to note here that actual numbers are likely even higher as this data only reflects the number of people identified by the UN as forcibly displaced. This chart therefore reflects the expansion of UN's monitoring scope and hints at the scale of the number of people who are unable to return to their homes.