---
title: "The global displacement figures"
description: "65.3 million people were fleeing their homes in 2015. That means the number of people forced to flee rose by 5.8 million in just one year. The number of refugees crossing international borders is the highest ever registered by reliable statistics, and so is the number of people displaced within their own country."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2016/the-global-picture-of-displacement"
language: "en"
published: "2016-06-20T05:00:00Z"
modified: "2016-06-20T05:13:51Z"
---

# The global displacement figures

Richard Skretteberg, senior adviser, Norwegian Refugee Council Published 20. Jun 2016

[Global displacement overview](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=302)

Photo: NTB/SCANPIX/AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff

This article was first published more than 10 years ago

65.3 million people were fleeing their homes in 2015. That means the number of people forced to flee rose by 5.8 million in just one year. The number of refugees crossing international borders is the highest ever registered by reliable statistics, and so is the number of people displaced within their own country.

### The increase continues

The trend of rising displacement figures, starting in 2013, persists. Not since World War Two has the number of people fleeing their homes reached such staggering heights. In comparison, the total figures in 2006 were at just above 35 million.

Simultaneous, colossal humanitarian crises are the hallmark of today’s situation. Half of all new internal displacements in 2015 occurred in three countries alone - Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The outlook of political solutions to the crises in these countries is not bright. At risk of becoming deadlocked and prolonged, these crises may cause enormous human suffering and unpredictable political consequences.

### Africa: Conflict and El Niño

In Africa, displacement figures are stable, but high. This is mainly owing to the lack of political solutions after years of violence. Several conflict-ridden African countries have also been severely affected by the El Niño weather phenomenon. Causing drought and food shortages, El Niño increases tensions in vulnerable states that lack the resources to meet the challenges.

> Simultaneous, colossal humanitarian crises are the hallmark of today’s situation.

### Displaced by crime

Human smuggling and human trafficking are billion-dollar industries. Cynically exploiting people forced to flee, they fund armed groups and destabilise states. In Central America, violence related to drug trafficking directly forces people to flee their homes. Many of them are children fleeing the violence of criminal gangs.  
  
65.3 million people forced to flee is a record high. But there is also a record gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available.

**About the figures**

The figures are counted at the beginning of each year, and combines the number of refugees and internally displaced people.

Until 2007, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) was the source for refugee data, whereas from 2008 on the figures have been based on statistics from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Consequently, figures from before and after 2008 are not directly comparable. Between 2010 and 2016, the figures also include asylum seekers awaiting the final result of their application. At the turn of 2016, these figures were at 3.2 million.