CHAPTER 8 Population (milions) Figure 21 | Demographic characteristics available on UNHCR’s population of concern | 2006-2016 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2006 2007 Total pop. of concern 2008 2009 2010 Sex-disaggregated data available In 2014 and 2015, 164 countries provided at least some sex-disaggregated data on populations of concern. But in 2016, this number declined to 147 countries, representing 59 per cent of the entire population of concern. Some of this decline can be accounted for by changes in how the data are reported (Figure 21).70 From the available data, men accounted for 20.4 million and women for 19.3 million people out of the total population of concern. In 2016, 140 countries reported any data disaggregated by age, compared with 141 in 2015. Even though the total population covered increased, the proportion covered was still only 35 per cent. Of the 23.9 million people covered in 2016, 12.7 million were children below the age of 18, or 53 per cent, a small increase in the proportion of the population of concern from 2015. The coverage of disaggregated data by population group varied. Refugees and asylum-seekers tended to have the best coverage, and IDPs and stateless people the least. In 2016, sex-disaggregated data were available for 10.7 million refugees, and agedisaggregated data were available for 9.7 million (out of the 17.2 million total population), representing 62 per cent and 56 per cent of the refugee population, respectively. Among IDPs, 56 per cent of the population was covered by sex-disaggregated data, while only 26 per cent was covered by agedisaggregated data. For asylum-seekers, the coverage was 58 per cent for sex-disaggregated data and 49 per cent for age. For the other types of population of concern reported to UNHCR, the figures for sex and age disaggregation were as follows: returned IDPs (51 54 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Age-disaggregated data available per cent and 36 per cent, respectively), others of concern (86 per cent and 73 per cent), returned refugees (83 per cent and 79 per cent), and stateless people (69 per cent and 1 per cent). Based on the available data, 49 per cent of refugees were women in 2016 (Table 5). This was a small increase over 2015 but consistent with trends in earlier years. As in 2014 and 2015, the proportion of children under the age of 18 among refugees remained at 51 per cent. In addition, there was a change of only one percentage point in the working age (18-59) and older (60 plus) populations, which were 45 per cent and 4 per cent of the total population, respectively. Many countries in subSaharan Africa hosted refugee populations with a higher proportion of children, reflective of the younger population structure in the region. Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, and South Sudan all hosted refugee populations with more than 60 per cent children by end-2016, with clear implications for the provision of protection and services. LOCATION CHARACTERISTICS Knowing where displaced people are and how they are living is as important as knowing who they are when it comes to delivering assistance and protection. UNHCR requests geographically disaggregated data on 70 UNHCR’s population of concern includes refugees, IDPs, returnees, others of concern, and stateless people. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2016