Refugee Returns Hit Second Highest On Record, Says UNHCR
Global refugee numbers declined in 2025 by three per cent to 41.6 million, marking the first drop in forced displacement in a decade, even as the figure remains unacceptably high and millions remain trapped in prolonged exile.
UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric disclosed this at a news conference on Thursday in New York, citing the latest Global Trends Report released by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Some 5.4 million people fled to other countries to escape violence and persecution during the year.
Dujarric said the report showed that global forced displacement had decreased for the first time in ten years while remaining at troubling levels.
“The report showed that returns are also gathering pace; 14.7 million displaced people returned to their areas or countries of origin in 2025, with a sharp increase in Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria,” he said. Of that figure, 4.4 million were refugees and 10.3 million were internally displaced people, representing nearly a 50 per cent increase on the previous year.
He noted that refugee returns were the second highest since records began 60 years ago, “though many occurred under pressure and to precarious conditions at home.” Dujarric added that 70 per cent of refugees remained trapped in exile for years, with many living below the poverty line.
Barham Salih, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urged the international community to back a new initiative to lift millions out of long-term displacement and reliance on humanitarian aid. Salih warned that for too many refugees, displacement starts as a lifeline but lasts a lifetime, stressing that humanitarian aid saves lives but does not enable refugees to rebuild as active agents of their own future.
Salih outlined a clear and measurable goal: to reduce by more than half, over the next decade, the number of refugees in long-term displacement reliant on humanitarian assistance, improving prospects for millions of people.
The report flagged a sharp drop in resettlement, with arrivals through resettlement or sponsorship pathways falling by more than half year on year to just 81,800 in 2025. It noted a widening gap between available places and pressing needs.
According to the report, more than 70 per cent of refugees originated from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. The largest hosting countries were Colombia, Germany and Türkiye. The overall total of 41.6 million refugees includes 28.5 million under UNHCR’s mandate, 1.5 million in a refugee-like situation, 7.2 million other people in need of international protection, and 6 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.
“Asylum and protection are lifesaving and not up for debate,” Salih said. “We cannot accept a future in which millions of refugees remain trapped for years or decades without realistic prospects of rebuilding their lives.” As of the end of 2025, more than one in every 70 people on Earth had been forced to flee.