Chapter 1
DEMOGRAPHY OF GLOBAL FORCED DISPLACEMENT
Demographic data is crucial to understand the impact of displacement on different population groups. It
is also essential to guide effective and efficient policy responses and programmatic interventions that
address the needs of vulnerable groups. Sex- and age-disaggregated information is unfortunately not
always available for all forcibly displaced populations. Statistical models or estimations can be used to fill
these data gaps.
Based on a combination of different data sources (e.g. registration, surveys) and statistical models, UNHCR
estimates that between 30 – 34 million of the 79.5 million forcibly displaced people are children (between
38 – 43 per cent). The three age pyramids present the demographic profile of the different populations.19
19 Demographic data is available for 80 per cent of refugees, 33 per cent of asylum-seekers and 1 per cent of Venezuelans displaced abroad.
Within a 90 per cent posterior prediction interval, between 9.3 and 13.2 million (33 – 47%) of all refugees, asylum-seekers and Venezuelans
displaced abroad combined are children under the age of 18. IDMC is the source of IDP data on children (www.internal-displacement.org).
UNRWA is the source of data on Palestine refugee children (www.unrwa.org).
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UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019