UNHCR reports global displaced population drops to 117.8 million, first decline in a decade

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that the number of people forcibly displaced worldwide fell to 117.8 million at the end of the year, a drop of 5.4 million and the first decrease in ten years. Internally displaced persons accounted for 58 % of the total.

UNHCR attributes the decline to a marked rise in the return of refugees and internally displaced people from major crises, especially in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Syria. The agency warned that many of these returns occurred under insecure conditions, with damaged infrastructure and limited access to basic services and livelihood opportunities.

At the same time, the number of pending asylum applications rose by 645,300 to almost nine million, and the estimated global stateless population increased by three percent to 4.5 million.