Samia was forced to flee Khartoum when the war erupted in Sudan. Her journey to safety was long and arduous. "I am now without work, and I rely mainly on the help of charitable people, which is not enough to secure enough food for the family," she says. Photo: Faiz Abubakr/NRC

Record number of people displaced amid funding cuts

Statement by Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on the new global displacement figures:
Press release
Global
Published 12. Jun 2025
 

“The world is falling apart. In 2024 we saw huge numbers of people displaced in all corners of the world. That fact that over 123 million people were forced from their homes at the end of 2024 is a damning verdict on our ability to defend families from blunt violence.  

“The failure of global diplomacy and of conflict resolution efforts—and more than anything the failure to protect civilians—is astounding.  

“The number of displaced people is now three times what it was in 2011, and demonstrates a deep global crisis around governance and the protection of civilians. If this continues, violence will prevail in more and more places, and communities will be ripped apart.  

“These figures documented by UNHCR, and those collated by NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, must be a wake-up call for political and military leaders everywhere: they are failing the very communities they are supposed to protect. 

“Despite the immense suffering of displaced people, we are now seeing many countries turn inwards, making drastic cuts to humanitarian funding. Nationalism and xenophobia are on the rise: once generous donor nations are becoming increasingly self-interested. Governments are spending money on armaments that should have been used on refugees and on protecting the vulnerable. Aid budgets are plummeting. We are already doing more with less – but we cannot do this indefinitely.” 

Notes to editors  

  • In 2011, 38.54 million people were displaced (UNHCR). US$8.92bn humanitarian funding was required and 64.4% of that was delivered (OCHA). In 2024, US$49.4bn was required and 50.4% of that was delivered (OCHA).  

  • The newly released global displacement figures can be found on UNHCR’s website.  

  • Further information on the trends seen in 2024 is also available here. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:  

 

“The world is falling apart. In 2024 we saw huge numbers of people displaced in all corners of the world. That fact that over 123 million people were forced from their homes at the end of 2024 is a damning verdict on our ability to defend families from blunt violence.  

“The failure of global diplomacy and of conflict resolution efforts—and more than anything the failure to protect civilians—is astounding.  

“The number of displaced people is now three times what it was in 2011, and demonstrates a deep global crisis around governance and the protection of civilians. If this continues, violence will prevail in more and more places, and communities will be ripped apart.  

“These figures documented by UNHCR, and those collated by NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, must be a wake-up call for political and military leaders everywhere: they are failing the very communities they are supposed to protect. 

“Despite the immense suffering of displaced people, we are now seeing many countries turn inwards, making drastic cuts to humanitarian funding. Nationalism and xenophobia are on the rise: once generous donor nations are becoming increasingly self-interested. Governments are spending money on armaments that should have been used on refugees and on protecting the vulnerable. Aid budgets are plummeting. We are already doing more with less – but we cannot do this indefinitely.” 

Notes to editors  

  • In 2011, 38.54 million people were displaced (UNHCR). US$8.92bn humanitarian funding was required and 64.4% of that was delivered (OCHA). In 2024, US$49.4bn was required and 50.4% of that was delivered (OCHA).  

  • The newly released global displacement figures can be found on UNHCR’s website.  

  • Further information on the trends seen in 2024 is also available here. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: