UNHCR Reports Global Forced Displacements Slip Below 118 Million

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) released its 2025 Global Trends report showing the number of people forcibly displaced worldwide fell to 117.8 million – the first decline in a decade. The drop reflects 14.7 million returns to home countries and a rise in refugees acquiring citizenship, but the agency stresses that the figure remains alarmingly high.

The report notes 5.4 million new displacements, with 39 % of refugees being children and 68.7 million people displaced within their own nations. Ongoing conflict in Sudan accounted for the largest single displacement flow, while large populations remain in protracted exile – seven out of ten refugees have lived in displacement for five years or more. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih called the trend a “bittersweet milestone” and urged governments to expand legal pathways and durable solutions, aiming to halve the number of refugees reliant on humanitarian aid by 2035.