Skip to content
Nations Inquiry — home

Data for 2021

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021

Figures for 2021, as UNHCR published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021 covers 198 countries. Syria is highest, at 6,848,865; 9 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 733. Against 2020, 178 values changed (125 up, 53 down), 4 countries joined, 1 left.

Share

Refugees by Country of Origin · Data for 2021

HighestSyria

6,848,865

Lowest9 countries share it

0

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

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 198 countries · select a heading to sort

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021: every country, as published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
SyriaSYRWestern Asia6,848,865
AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia2,712,869
South SudanSSDEastern Africa2,362,759
MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia1,177,327
DR CongoCODMiddle Africa908,401
SudanSDNNorthern Africa825,290
SomaliaSOMEastern Africa776,678
Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa737,658
EritreaERIEastern Africa511,911
NigeriaNGAWestern Africa383,660
IraqIRQWestern Asia343,899
BurundiBDIEastern Africa323,635
VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia317,737
RwandaRWAEastern Africa248,219
VenezuelaVENSouth America199,202
MaliMLIWestern Africa183,392
ChinaCHNEastern Asia170,222
Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia151,112
EthiopiaETHEastern Africa149,130
IranIRNSouthern Asia142,994
PakistanPAKSouthern Asia132,818
CameroonCMRMiddle Africa125,477
ColombiaCOLSouth America115,792
TürkiyeTURWestern Asia105,019
PalestinePSEWestern Asia103,581

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. Syria6,848,865
  2. Afghanistan2,712,869
  3. South Sudan2,362,759
  4. Myanmar1,177,327
  5. DR Congo908,401

Lowest

  1. Vanuatushared0
  2. Vatican Cityshared0
  3. Macaushared0
  4. Kiribatishared0
  5. Switzerlandshared0

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 733. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +4 / −1countries joined / left
  • 178values changed, of 194 in both
  • 125 · 53rose · fell
  • 16unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

+ Aruba+ Finland+ Kiribati+ British Virgin Islands− Luxembourg

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
  • 172 distinct values among 198

    Values are stored exactly as published. 9 countries share 5. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 198 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

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 (2021). Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/refugees-by-origin/2021

0634 held

Other years

07Questions

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021: questions and answers

Which country has the highest refugees by country of origin in Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021?

Syria, at 6,848,865, of the 198 countries in the file.

What year does Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021 describe?

2021.

How many countries does Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021 cover?

198.

Where can I download Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Refugees by Country of Origin, 2021 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Refugees by Country of Origin, 2025.

Feedback

Feedback

How are we doing?

Two answers are required — a rating and your email. The rest is up to you.