ATLAS · FIELD GUIDE
Refugees by Country of Origin: Where the World's Refugees Have Fled From
UNHCR counts where the world's refugees have come from. What exactly does 'refugee by country of origin' mean, and how is it different from where those people now live?
This map recolours every country by how many refugees have fled from it, using figures from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. At the end of 2024, there were around 31 million refugees worldwide under UNHCR's count. The colour is keyed to where a refugee came from — not where they live now, which is shown on the companion map.
What "refugee" means here
A refugee, in UNHCR's terms, is someone who has been forced to leave their country and cannot safely return, and who is recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention or UNHCR's mandate. Getting the definition right matters, because the figure on this map deliberately excludes two related groups:
- Asylum seekers — people who have applied for refugee status but whose claims have not yet been decided.
- Internally displaced people — people forced from their homes who have not crossed an international border, and so are not refugees in the legal sense.
UNHCR counts each of these separately. This map is refugees, by the country they originate from.
Reading the map
At the end of 2024 the largest numbers originated from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, each in the millions, followed by South Sudan, Sudan and others. These are the figures UNHCR reports, shown here exactly as published. The map records how many — it does not characterise why, or attach any judgement to the countries it colours.
It is one half of a pair
Where refugees come from and where they are hosted are usually very different places, because people who flee one country are taken in by others — very often a neighbour. The companion map shows the hosting side. Seen together, the two maps make one plain point: the country people leave and the country that takes them in are rarely the same. The figures are UNHCR's, for the end of 2024, with the source named on the surface.
Frequently asked questions
What does this map show?
The number of refugees who have fled from each country, according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. The colour is keyed to the country a refugee originally came from — where they left — not where they live now. At the end of 2024 there were around 31 million refugees worldwide under UNHCR's count. This map is one of a pair; the companion map shows where those refugees are now hosted.
What counts as a refugee here?
A refugee, in UNHCR's terms, is someone who has been forced to leave their country and cannot safely return, and who is recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention or UNHCR's mandate. The figure on this map does not include asylum seekers, whose claims have not yet been decided, or internally displaced people, who have been forced from their homes but have not crossed an international border. Those are separate categories that UNHCR counts separately.
Which countries do the most refugees come from?
At the end of 2024 the largest numbers originated from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, each accounting for several million refugees, followed by South Sudan, Sudan and others. These figures are reported by UNHCR and shown here exactly as published. The map records the count; it does not characterise the situations that produced it.
How is this different from the map of refugees by host country?
Completely. This map shows where refugees have come from; the companion map shows where they now live. The two are usually very different places, because people who flee one country are hosted by others — very often a neighbouring country. Looking at both maps side by side shows that the country people leave and the country that takes them in are rarely the same.
Where does the data come from?
From UNHCR's Refugee Data Finder, the UN Refugee Agency's official statistics, accessed through its public data interface. The figures are for the end of 2024, the most recent complete year, and each value carries its source. The numbers are presented as published, with no interpretation added.
SEE IT ON THE MAP
Everything in this guide is on the live Atlas map.