Data for 2012

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2012

Name: Refugees by Country of Origin, 2012
Creator: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
License: https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/data-and-publications/data-and-statistics/terms-use-datasets

Figures for 2012, as UNHCR published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2012 covers 188 countries. Afghanistan is highest, at 2,586,132; 3 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 1,103. Against 2011, 174 values changed (104 up, 70 down), 2 countries joined, 2 left.

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Refugees by Country of Origin · Data for 2012

HighestAfghanistan

2,586,132

Lowest3 countries share it

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

188countries
1measure
2012the year it describes
176distinct valueswhole numbers, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Refugees by Country of Origin, 2012, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 188 countries · select a heading to sort

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2012: every country, as published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	2,586,132
Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	1,136,709
Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	746,204
Syria`SYR`Western Asia	729,011
Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	568,934
DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	509,275
Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	415,363
Colombia`COL`South America	394,112
Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	336,936
Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	285,356
China`CHN`Eastern Asia	193,449
Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	164,567
Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	158,903
Mali`MLI`Western Africa	149,930
Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	135,353
Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	132,720
Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	110,587
Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	100,709
Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	97,357
Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	94,916
South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	87,007
Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	75,932
Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	74,964
Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	73,354
Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	62,606
Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	51,815
Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	49,778
Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	41,582
Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	39,674
Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	38,559
Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	33,747
Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	25,248
Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	24,269
Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	23,428
Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	22,082
Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	19,253
Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	18,717
Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	18,017
Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	15,937
Togo`TGO`Western Africa	15,683
Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	15,541
Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	15,514
Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	15,100
India`IND`Southern Asia	14,245
Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	14,062
Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	14,016
Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	13,360
Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	12,569
Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	12,113
Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	11,593
Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	10,159
Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	10,014
Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	9,266
Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	8,946
Mexico`MEX`Central America	8,438
Venezuela`VEN`South America	8,204
El Salvador`SLV`Central America	8,173
Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	7,981
Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	7,722
Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	7,601
North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	7,582
Guatemala`GTM`Central America	6,389
Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	6,191
Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	6,181
Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	6,148
Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	5,657
Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	5,588
Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	5,233
Peru`PER`South America	5,207
United States`USA`Northern America	4,454
Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	4,052
Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	3,567
Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	3,490
Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	3,063
Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	2,802
Honduras`HND`Central America	2,612
Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	2,582
Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	2,394
Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	2,363
Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	2,143
Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	2,111
Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1,918
Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1,638
Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1,526
Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1,458
Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1,404
Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1,326
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	1,315
Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	1,314
Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	1,189
Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,173
Chile`CHL`South America	1,145
North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	1,126
Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	1,109
Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1,097
Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1,085
Brazil`BRA`South America	1,073
Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	979
Ecuador`ECU`South America	848
Niger`NER`Western Africa	824
Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	811
Guyana`GUY`South America	800
Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	708
Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	669
Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	662
Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	626
Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	620
Bolivia`BOL`South America	616
United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	580
Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	567
South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	555
Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	523
Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	487
Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	455
Benin`BEN`Western Africa	451
Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	449
Argentina`ARG`South America	435
South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	413
Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	378
Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	335
Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	325
Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	316
Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	299
Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	294
Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	280
Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	273
Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	240
Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	231
Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	230
Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	195
Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	189
Germany`DEU`Western Europe	174
Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	173
Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	172
Uruguay`URY`South America	168
Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	155
United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	150
Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	125
Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	123
Canada`CAN`Northern America	121
Panama`PAN`Central America	107
Paraguay`PRY`South America	101
France`FRA`Western Europe	94
Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	91
Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	69
Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	65
Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	64
Oman`OMN`Western Asia	62
Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	60
Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	59
Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	57
Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	55
Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	52
Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	50
Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	48
Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	47
Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	45
Belize`BLZ`Central America	35
Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	34
Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	32
Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	32
São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	31
Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	30
Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	22
Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	22
Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	21
New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	19
Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	18
Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	16
Austria`AUT`Western Europe	15
Suriname`SUR`South America	14
Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	14
Tonga`TON`Polynesia	11
Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	10
Niue`NIU`Polynesia	10
Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	10
Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	8
Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	7
Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	6
Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	6
Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	5
Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	5
Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	5
Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	5
Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	5
Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0
Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0
Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0

02In 2012

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Afghanistan2,586,132
Somalia1,136,709
Iraq746,204
Syria729,011
Sudan568,934

Lowest

Samoashared0
Tuvalushared0
Bermudashared0
Norwayshared5
Maltashared5

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 1,103. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032011 → 2012

Since 2011

What changed between 2011 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+2 / −2countries joined / left
174values changed, of 186 in both
104 · 70rose · fell
12unchanged

Rose most

Syria19,931 → 729,011+709,080
Mali4,289 → 149,930+145,641
South Sudan0 → 87,007+87,007
Sudan500,004 → 568,934+68,930
Somalia1,077,038 → 1,136,709+59,671

Fell most

Iraq1,428,306 → 746,204−682,102
Angola128,657 → 19,253−109,404
Afghanistan2,664,423 → 2,586,132−78,291
Côte d’Ivoire154,818 → 100,709−54,109
Liberia66,779 → 23,428−43,351

+ Tuvalu

+ Samoa

− Macau

− Nauru

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

176 distinct values among 188
Values are stored exactly as published. 5 countries share 5. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 188 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
188 rows · 5.0 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download refugees-by-origin-2012-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
UNHCR’s own file, on its own site.
https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=1000&yearFrom=2012&yearTo=2012&coo_all=true

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (2012). Refugees by Country of Origin, 2012 [data set], describing 2012. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/refugees-by-origin/2012

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2011
188 countries
The year after ›
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2013
192 countries
All of them
Refugees by Country of Origin: every year
34 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions