Chapter 2
Table 1 | Refugee populations by UNHCR regions | 2018
Refugees (including persons in
a refugee-like situation)
UNHCR regions
Start-2018
End-2018
Change
Absolute
% of total,
end-2018
%
- Central Africa and Great Lakes
1,475,700
1,449,400
-26,300
-1.8
7
- East and Horn of Africa
4,307,800
4,348,800
41,000
1.0
21
- Southern Africa
197,700
211,000
13,300
6.7
1
- West Africa
286,900
326,300
39,400
13.7
2
Total Africa*
6,268,200
6,335,400
67,200
1.1
31
Americas
Asia and Pacific
646,100
643,300
-2,800
-0.4
3
4,209,700
4,214,600
4,900
0.1
21
Europe
6,114,200
6,474,600
360,300
5.9
32
thereof: Turkey
3,480,300
3,681,700
201,400
5.8
18
Middle East and North Africa
2,705,400
2,692,700
-12,700
-0.5
13
19,943,600
20,360,600
417,000
2.1
100
Total
* Excluding North Africa.
By origin
Altogether, refugees from the top 10 countries of
origin accounted for 82 per cent of refugees
(16.6 million) in 2018, similar to 2017. As in 2017, over
two thirds of the world’s refugees come from just five
countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar
and Somalia.
As has been the case since 2014, the main country of
origin for refugees in 2018 was Syria, with 6.7 million
at the end of the year, an increase over the 6.3 million
from a year earlier.17 While these refugees were
hosted by 127 countries on six continents, the vast
majority (85 per cent) remained in countries in the
region. Turkey continued to host the largest
population of Syrian refugees, increasing throughout
2018 through both new registrations and births to
reach 3,622,400 by the end of the year.
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa with
significant numbers of Syrian refugees included
Lebanon (944,200), Jordan (676,300), Iraq (252,500)
and Egypt (132,900). Outside the region, countries
with large Syrian refugee populations included
Germany (532,100), Sweden (109,300), Sudan
(93,500), Austria (49,200), the Netherlands (32,100),
Greece (23,900), Denmark (19,700), Bulgaria (17,200),
Switzerland (16,600), France (15,800), Armenia
(14,700), Norway (13,900) and Spain (13,800).
Refugees from Afghanistan were the second largest
group by country of origin, in what has remained a
14
significant population since the 1980s. At the end of
2018, there were 2.7 million Afghan refugees,
compared with 2.6 million a year earlier, mainly due to
births during the year. Pakistan continued to host the
largest Afghan refugee population with 1,403,500
people at the end of 2018. The Islamic Republic of Iran
reported hosting 951,100 Afghan refugees.18 In
Germany, the number grew to 126,000 by the end of
2018, with other Afghan refugee populations hosted
in Austria (33,100), Sweden (28,200), France (18,500),
Italy (16,900), Switzerland (12,300) and Australia
(11,900). In 2018, over 88 per cent of Afghan refugees
were hosted by neighbouring Pakistan and the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
While the South Sudanese refugee population
declined in 2018 from 2.4 million to 2.3 million people,
it remained the third most common country of origin.
Much of this decline was accounted for by the
adjustment of the figures in Uganda following
verification (which reduced the population by
300,000); overall in 2018, there were 179,200 new
refugee registrations. Following the reduction in the
number of refugees hosted in Uganda to 788,800 at
the end of 2018, Sudan became the country hosting
the largest population of South Sudanese with
852,100 people. This was followed by Ethiopia
(422,100), Kenya (115,200) and DRC (95,700).
17 Much of this increase was due to newly registered refugees, many
of whom had arrived prior to 2018.
18 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran registers all
refugees in the country. With the exception of refugees in
settlements, UNHCR has most recently received only the
aggregate number of refugees from the Government in May 2015.
unhcr > Global trends 2018