Data for 2017

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2017

Figures for 2017, as UNHCR published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2017 covers 193 countries. Syria is highest, at 6,310,498; 10 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 913. Against 2016, 173 values changed (116 up, 57 down), 3 countries joined.

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Refugees by Country of Origin · Data for 2017

HighestSyria

6,310,498

Lowest10 countries share it

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

193countries
1measure
2017the year it describes
166distinct 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, 2017, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 193 countries · select a heading to sort

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2017: every country, as published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

SyriaSYRWestern Asia	6,310,498
AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	2,624,265
South SudanSSDEastern Africa	2,439,888
MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	1,156,742
SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	986,386
SudanSDNNorthern Africa	694,556
DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	620,805
Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	545,513
EritreaERIEastern Africa	486,209
BurundiBDIEastern Africa	439,320
IraqIRQWestern Asia	362,536
VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	334,064
RwandaRWAEastern Africa	258,986
NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	238,977
ChinaCHNEastern Asia	207,716
ColombiaCOLSouth America	191,635
MaliMLIWestern Africa	150,305
UkraineUKREastern Europe	139,581
PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	128,914
IranIRNSouthern Asia	118,639
Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	115,632
PalestinePSEWestern Asia	99,630
EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	87,448
RussiaRUSEastern Europe	61,584
TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	61,383
Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	40,009
MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	36,525
SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	33,246
HaitiHTICaribbean	28,424
SenegalSENWestern Africa	26,584
El SalvadorSLVCentral America	25,876
CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	24,869
YemenYEMWestern Asia	23,555
EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	22,106
GuineaGINWestern Africa	20,333
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	17,690
ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	17,420
GhanaGHAWestern Africa	16,959
BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	16,780
ChadTCDMiddle Africa	16,325
GuatemalaGTMCentral America	16,284
GambiaGMBWestern Africa	14,564
HondurasHNDCentral America	14,424
Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	13,295
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	12,485
CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	12,238
AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	12,168
MexicoMEXCentral America	11,679
LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	11,205
CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	11,032
AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	10,893
ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	10,786
VenezuelaVENSouth America	9,272
NepalNPLSouthern Asia	8,415
AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	8,292
TogoTGOWestern Africa	8,115
BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	7,954
IndiaINDSouthern Asia	7,926
KenyaKENEastern Africa	7,567
LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	7,056
GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	6,535
UgandaUGAEastern Africa	6,409
LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	6,039
CubaCUBCaribbean	5,331
LebanonLBNWestern Asia	5,301
Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	4,496
AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	4,021
BelarusBLREastern Europe	3,650
UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	3,405
HungaryHUNEastern Europe	3,336
MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	3,089
KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	2,771
Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	2,694
PeruPERSouth America	2,588
KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	2,406
MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	2,339
MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	2,227
JamaicaJAMCaribbean	2,224
JordanJORWestern Asia	2,119
Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	1,870
TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	1,826
DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	1,761
North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	1,653
NicaraguaNICCentral America	1,467
TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	1,369
NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	1,368
NigerNERWestern Africa	1,363
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	1,311
CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	1,272
EcuadorECUSouth America	1,251
Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	1,219
RomaniaROUEastern Europe	1,210
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	1,176
PolandPOLEastern Europe	1,123
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	1,097
Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	995
SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	913
BrazilBRASouth America	851
FijiFJIMelanesia	734
BulgariaBGREastern Europe	716
MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	704
TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	655
ComorosCOMEastern Africa	600
BeninBENWestern Africa	572
MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	540
BoliviaBOLSouth America	520
BahrainBHRWestern Asia	497
ChileCHLSouth America	493
IsraelISRWestern Asia	469
South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	461
PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	445
MalawiMWIEastern Africa	434
Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	427
Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	406
BahamasBHSCaribbean	378
TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	365
Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	310
United StatesUSANorthern America	310
MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	292
EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	288
BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	279
GuyanaGUYSouth America	260
ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	260
South KoreaKOREastern Asia	239
EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	231
GabonGABMiddle Africa	216
Costa RicaCRICentral America	195
BarbadosBRBCaribbean	172
ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	164
LatviaLVANorthern Europe	162
United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	137
MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	130
Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	127
ArgentinaARGSouth America	121
GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	106
GrenadaGRDCaribbean	103
Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	99
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	85
ParaguayPRYSouth America	77
CanadaCANNorthern America	75
LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	73
GermanyDEUWestern Europe	66
BelizeBLZCentral America	64
MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	64
Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	57
FranceFRAWestern Europe	54
BelgiumBELWestern Europe	52
ItalyITASouthern Europe	52
Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	51
MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	48
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	48
JapanJPNEastern Asia	44
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	39
OmanOMNWestern Asia	39
SpainESPSouthern Europe	39
PanamaPANCentral America	36
CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	35
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	34
TongaTONPolynesia	34
QatarQATWestern Asia	31
São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	31
DominicaDMACaribbean	26
NiueNIUPolynesia	19
SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	17
SurinameSURSouth America	17
PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	16
NorwayNORNorthern Europe	15
SwedenSWENorthern Europe	14
Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	14
Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	13
UruguayURYSouth America	12
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	11
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	10
AustriaAUTWestern Europe	10
SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	10
Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	7
Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	6
LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	6
Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	5
FinlandFINNorthern Europe	5
IcelandISLNorthern Europe	5
MonacoMCOWestern Europe	5
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	5
AndorraANDSouthern Europe	0
BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	0
CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0
MacauMACEastern Asia	0
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0
PalauPLWMicronesia	0
SamoaWSMPolynesia	0
VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0

02In 2017

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Syria6,310,498
Afghanistan2,624,265
South Sudan2,439,888
Myanmar1,156,742
Somalia986,386

Lowest

Samoashared0
Vanuatushared0
Palaushared0
Maltashared0
Macaushared0

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 913. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032016 → 2017

Since 2016

What changed between 2016 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+3 / −0countries joined / left
173values changed, of 190 in both
116 · 57rose · fell
17unchanged

Rose most

South Sudan1,436,707 → 2,439,888+1,003,181
Syria5,524,511 → 6,310,498+785,987
Myanmar490,285 → 1,156,742+666,457
Afghanistan2,501,447 → 2,624,265+122,818
DR Congo537,474 → 620,805+83,331

Fell most

Colombia311,059 → 191,635−119,424
Ukraine239,062 → 139,581−99,481
Rwanda286,063 → 258,986−27,077
Somalia1,012,320 → 986,386−25,934
Côte d’Ivoire46,811 → 40,009−6,802

+ Malta

+ Palau

+ Vanuatu

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.

The site’s method

166 distinct values among 193
Values are stored exactly as published. 10 countries share 0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Which end is better
Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 193 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
193 rows · 5.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download refugees-by-origin-2017-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=2017&yearTo=2017&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. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (2017). Refugees by Country of Origin, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/refugees-by-origin/2017

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016
190 countries
The year after ›
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2018
191 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