CHAPTER 8
Table 5 | D
emographic characteristics of refugees
| 2003-2016 (% of total population)
Age
Year
Women
<18
18-59
>60
2003
48
49
46
5
2004
48
50
45
5
2005
48
46
49
5
2006
47
47
49
4
2007
47
46
49
5
2008
48
44
51
5
2009
47
41
54
5
2010
47
44
51
5
2011
48
46
49
5
2012
48
46
49
5
2013
49
50
46
4
2014
49
51
46
3
2015
47
51
46
3
2016
49
51
45
4
These percentages are based on available data and exclude
countries where no demographic information is available. This is
particularly the case for high-income countries.
populations of concern from its office, partners, and
governments, and classifies locations into urban and
rural localities (as well as a various/unknown category,
which includes locations that are a mix of urban and
rural or where the categorization is unclear).
Additionally, UNHCR collects data on the type of
accommodation in which individuals reside, especially
for refugee populations. This information is important
for efficient policymaking and programme design.
Accommodation types are classified as planned/
managed camp, self-settled camp, collective centre,
reception/transit camp, and individual accommodation
(private), as well as various/unknown if the information
is not known, unclear, or does not fit in any of the
other categories.
Excluding refugees living in unknown locations, by the
end of 2016 some 60 per cent of refugees were living
in urban areas, similar to 2015, highlighting the
increasingly urban nature of the refugee population.
This information was available for 14.2 million refugees
in 2016, covering 82 per cent of the refugee population,
a lower proportion from the previous year.71
Disaggregated data on where people were located at
the subnational level are collected by UNHCR.
However, the extent of this data was variable.
Altogether for 2016, UNHCR had data on location at
the subnational level for 42.5 million people out of the
total population of concern of 67.2 million people, equal
to 63 per cent. There was information for some 73 per
cent of the refugee population and 62 per cent of the
IDP population, but only 25 per cent of asylum-seekers.
Accommodation type was known for some 14.0 million
refugees, about 81 per cent of the global total, a
decline from 2015 and from the past five years (Table
6). By the end of 2016, 63 per cent of refugees lived in
individual accommodation, similar to 2014 and a
decline from 2015. As in previous years, the Syrian
refugee crisis was characterized overwhelmingly by
refugees living in private or individual accommodation
rather than camps, with 90 per cent doing so (of those
for whom there were data). As with previous years,
most refugees residing in rural locations were in a
planned/managed camp (67 per cent), with only 18 per
cent in individual accommodation. In urban locations,
refugees for whom there were data almost exclusively
lived in individual accommodation, with very few in
any kind of camp or organized settlement.
Table 6 | Accommodation of refugees | 2014-2016 (end-year)
Type of
accommodation
Planned/ managed camp
No. of refugees
Distribution (%)
2014
2015
2016
2014
2015 2016
% urban
2014
% women
2015 2016
2014
% children
2015 2016
2014
2015 2016
3,512,500
3,390,900
4,011,000
29.3
25.4
28.6
7.0
1.4
3.3
50.5
51.4
51.4
55.7
57.6
58.6
Self-settled camp
487,500
518,600
525,200
4.1
3.9
3.7
0.4
7.6
7.2
52.9
53.3
52.4
56.3
57.1
56.5
Collective centre
Individual
accommodation (private)
Reception/ transit camp
302,000
301,900
320,100
2.5
2.3
2.3
95.3
87.1 100.0
47.8
45.0
18.6
54.4
46.8
17.0
7,578,400
8,949,200
8,877,100
63.2
67.0
63.3
87.3
87.8
87.8
47.9
47.5
48.3
49.0
48.2
49.2
111,700
197,600
281,800
0.9
1.5
2.0
15.1
10.7
9.6
51.5
51.3
62.5
51.0
54.3
35.7
Sub-total
Unknown
Grand total
11,992,100 13,358,200
14,015,200 100.0 100.0 100.0
2,393,200
2,763,200
3,172,200
14,385,300
16,121,400
17,187,500
UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2016
71 Excludes data that were reported as unknown or unclear (3.0 million).
55