The number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict and persecution declined in 2025, marking the first global decrease in displacement in a decade, according to a report released Thursday by the U.N. refugee agency. However, the agency warned that the number of refugees trapped in prolonged displacement remains alarmingly high.
UNHCR said 5.4 million people were newly displaced last year, bringing the worldwide total of refugees and people in refugee-like situations to 41.6 million, a figure that includes 6 million Palestinian refugees.
At the same time, around 14.7 million refugees and internally displaced people returned home, a 50% increase on the previous year and the second-highest figure recorded since 1965, the agency found.
Most returns were to six countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Myanmar.
However, many returned to difficult conditions marked by limited access to basic services, widespread infrastructure damage and ongoing insecurity, raising concerns over the sustainability and safety of their return, UNHCR said.
Afghanistan and Syria Lead Refugee Returns
About 2.9 million Afghans returned in 2025, including 1.9 million refugees – five times higher than the previous year – driven mainly by stricter policies in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan, with many reporting they had little choice but to leave, UNHCR found.
This sharp rise reduced the global Afghan refugee population from 5.8 million in 2024 to 3.7 million in 2025, the report said.
Syria, which had been one of the world’s largest displacement crises for more than a decade, saw around 1.3 million people return in 2025 – nearly triple the previous year – following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. This reduced the global Syrian refugee population from 6 million to 4.9 million by the end of 2025.
The report noted that the crisis in the Middle East has already shaped global displacement trends in 2026. Around 3.2 million people have been temporarily displaced in Iran since joint U.S.-Israeli strikes at the end of February, while about one million people have been forced from their homes in Lebanon since the start of the war on March 2, amid Israeli strikes and evacuation orders, UNHCR said.
Halving Refugee Numbers
UNHCR says it aims to halve the number of refugees and others in protracted displacement requiring humanitarian assistance by 2035, by supporting job creation and education opportunities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where most refugees are hosted.
Globally, 70% of refugees have been in exile for five years or more, often in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iran.
“Asylum and protection are life-saving and not up for debate, but we cannot accept a future in which millions of refugees remain trapped for years or decades without realistic prospects of rebuilding their lives,” said UNHCR High Commissioner Barham Salih.
Part of the initiative includes promoting voluntary returns, as well as enabling refugees to access education and employment in host countries so they can financially support themselves and become less aid-dependent.
(With inputs from Reuters)
