Chapter 8 Table 5 | Accommodation of refugees | 2015-2017 (end-year) Type of accommodation Planned/ managed camp Self-settled camp No. of refugees Distribution (%) 2015 2016 2017 3,390,900 4,011,000 518,600 2017 4,977,200 25.4 28.6 29.5 1.4 525,200 1,084,900 3.9 3.7 6.4 7.6 320,100 327,700 2.3 2.3 1.9 87.1 8,877,1 00 10,355,600 67.0 63.3 61.4 87.8 10.7 9.6 Collective centre Individual accommodation (private) Reception/ transit camp 8,949,200 131 ,100 1.5 2.0 0.8 Sub-total 13,358,200 14,015,200 16,876,500 100 100 100 2,763,200 3,172,200 3,064,800 16,121,400 17,187,500 19,941,300 Unknown Grand total 301,900 197,600 281,800 refugee population was female in 2017, compared with 51 per cent in Africa. For children under the age of 18, Africa had the highest proportion with 59 per cent of the population, followed by 50 per cent in Asia and Pacific. In contrast, 20 per cent of the refugees in the Americas were children, followed by 29 per cent in Europe. Location Characteristics Geospatial data are key to understanding where displaced people are located and how they are living, and to facilitate an effective humanitarian and development response to populations in need of assistance. UNHCR offices, partners, and governments reported geographically disaggregated data on populations of concern with locations classified into urban and rural localities, as well as a various/unknown category that includes locations that are a mix of urban and rural or where the categorization is unclear. In addition, UNHCR collects data on the type of accommodation in which individuals reside, especially for refugee populations. 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. In contrast to trends in previous years, the proportion of refugees living in urban areas declined slightly to 58 per cent in 2017 from 60 per cent in 2016, based on the available evidence. This information was available for 16.5 million refugees in 2017, covering 60 % urban 2015 2016 2015 2016 % women % children 2017 2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 3.3 2.2 51.4 51.4 51.6 57.6 58.6 2017 58.6 7.2 26.7 53.3 52.4 52.0 57.1 56.5 56.6 100 100 45.0 18.6 23.9 46.8 17.0 21.8 87.8 84.7 47.5 48.3 48.6 48.2 49.2 51.1 17.8 51.3 62.5 60.4 54.3 35.7 51.1 83 per cent of the refugee population, a slightly higher proportion from the previous year.76 Disaggregated data by location at the subnational level are collected by UNHCR and are critical for policymaking and delivering assistance. However, the extent of this data was variable. Altogether for 2017, UNHCR had data on location at the subnational level for 59 per cent of the total population of concern, a decrease from 2016 when it was 63 per cent. There was disaggregated information available for some 59 per cent of the refugee population and 66 per cent of the IDP population but only 27 per cent of asylum-seekers. Accommodation type was known for some 16.9 million refugees, about 85 per cent of the global total, an increase in coverage from previous years [Table 5]. By the end of 2017, 61 per cent of refugees lived in individual accommodation, a decline from 2015 and 2016. 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 data were available), while the refugee outflows from the DRC and Myanmar in 2017 have been dominated by refugees settling in camps or camp-like situations. Refugees living in rural areas were predominantly living in some kind of camp location (79 per cent). In contrast, in urban locations 95 per cent of refugees were living in individual accommodation with very few in camp locations. ■ 76 Excludes data that were reported as unknown or unclear (3.0 million). unhcr > Global trends 2017