Chapter 2 Table 2 | Key facts for countries hosting refugees, people in a refugee-like situation and other people in need of international protection, by country of asylum | end-2024 67 per cent were hosted by neighbouring countries. Most people fleeing conflict and persecution remain near their country of origin. By the end of 2024, 67 per cent of refugees were hosted in neighbouring countries, consistent with previous years. 73 per cent were hosted by low- and middle-income countries. Low-income countries continued to host a disproportionately large share of the world’s displaced people, both in terms of their population size and the resources available to them. These countries represent 9 per cent of the global population and only 0.6 per cent of global domestic product, yet they hosted 19 per cent of refugees. This included very large refugee populations in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda. The share of refugees hosted in lower-middle-income countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, decreased to 17 per cent by end-2024 from 28 per cent at end-2023 due to the reclassification of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which hosts 3.5 million refugees, as an upper-middle-income country by the World Bank.146 As a result of the reclassification, the percentage of refugees hosted in upper-middle-income countries increased to 37 per cent. Other upper-middle-income countries hosting large numbers of refugees are Türkiye, Colombia and Peru. Highincome countries, which account for most of the global wealth,147 hosted 27 per cent of refugees at end-2024. This was 3 per cent more than at end-2023 as there was an increase in the number of refugees hosted by almost all high-income countries. 23 per cent were hosted by the Least Developed Countries.148 The Least Developed Countries consist of 44 countries, including Bangladesh, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen. Together, they account for 1.4 per cent of global gross domestic product, yet they were responsible for hosting nearly 23 per cent of all refugees worldwide.149 At the end of 2024, the number of refugees in Least Developed Countries stood at 8.4 million, 9 per cent more than at end-2023 (7.7 million). 67 per cent were in protracted situations. Protracted situations are defined as those where more than 25,000 refugees from the same country of origin have been in exile in a given low- or middle-income host country for at least five consecutive years.150 This definition should be seen as a reflection of the situation as a whole and does not refer to circumstances of individual refugees. At the end of 2024, an estimated 24.7 million refugees and other people in need of international protection were in a protracted situation, 200,700 less than the previous year. This represents the first decrease in the scale of protracted situations globally since 2020. At end-2024, there were 57 protracted situations in 36 host countries. 146 See World Bank country classifications by income level for 2024-2025. 147 High-income countries account for 64 per cent of global gross domestic product. This compares with 0.6 per cent, 7 per cent and 28 per cent for low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries respectively. 148 There are 44 Least Developed Countries classified by the United Nations Statistics Division. These are typically low- or lower-middle-income countries confronting severe structural impediments to sustainable development. The list of countries is revised every three years. 149 Data source of gross domestic product (in current US dollars) in 2023 is the World Bank. 150 Includes people in a refugee-like situation and other people in need of international protection. Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate are excluded from this analysis. 40 UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2024