Data for 2023

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2023

Name: Refugees by Country of Origin, 2023
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 2023, as UNHCR published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2023 covers 199 countries. Afghanistan is highest, at 6,403,144; 15 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 919. Against 2022, 181 values changed (116 up, 65 down), 4 countries joined, 5 left.

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Refugees by Country of Origin · Data for 2023

HighestAfghanistan

6,403,144

Lowest15 countries share it

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

199countries
1measure
2023the year it describes
174distinct 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, 2023, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 199 countries · select a heading to sort

Refugees by Country of Origin, 2023: every country, as published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	6,403,144
Syria`SYR`Western Asia	6,355,788
Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	5,960,362
South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	2,292,482
Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,496,923
Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1,283,426
DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	978,209
Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	842,044
Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	759,187
Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	559,853
Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	410,308
Venezuela`VEN`South America	347,695
Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	329,032
Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	319,857
Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	249,955
Mali`MLI`Western Africa	249,046
China`CHN`Eastern Asia	160,565
Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	158,344
Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	158,098
Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	151,757
Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	145,319
Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	127,738
Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	122,139
Colombia`COL`South America	115,513
Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	110,715
Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	94,481
Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	86,135
Honduras`HND`Central America	84,363
El Salvador`SLV`Central America	68,633
Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	54,869
Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	48,044
Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	41,077
Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	38,585
Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	37,532
Guatemala`GTM`Central America	34,010
Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	29,807
Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	25,994
Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	25,483
India`IND`Southern Asia	25,319
Niger`NER`Western Africa	24,794
Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	24,126
Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	23,160
Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	21,919
Mexico`MEX`Central America	21,869
Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	19,318
Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	18,560
Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	18,339
Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	17,958
Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	17,579
Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	15,072
Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	15,071
Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	14,695
Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	13,870
Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	13,820
Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	11,924
Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	11,756
Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	11,624
Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	11,506
Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	10,196
Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	8,827
Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	8,376
Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	8,107
Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	8,004
Togo`TGO`Western Africa	7,955
Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	7,629
Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	7,460
Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	7,445
Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	7,392
Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	7,229
Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	6,676
Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	6,551
Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	5,343
Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	4,838
Peru`PER`South America	4,724
Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	4,440
Ecuador`ECU`South America	4,244
Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	3,978
Brazil`BRA`South America	3,798
Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	3,795
Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	3,720
Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	3,324
Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	2,800
Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	2,393
Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	2,276
Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	2,194
Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2,147
Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2,128
Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	2,090
North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1,938
Chile`CHL`South America	1,901
Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,859
Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	1,848
Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	1,840
Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1,825
United States`USA`Northern America	1,229
Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	1,067
Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	999
Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	935
Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	932
South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	919
Benin`BEN`Western Africa	905
Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	886
Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	866
Israel`ISR`Western Asia	855
Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	645
Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	637
Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	631
Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	628
Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	558
Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	531
Bolivia`BOL`South America	468
Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	452
Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	447
Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	393
Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	389
Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	351
Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	350
Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	324
Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	304
Argentina`ARG`South America	300
Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	298
Guyana`GUY`South America	248
Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	245
North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	239
Panama`PAN`Central America	233
United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	229
Canada`CAN`Northern America	223
Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	222
United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	210
Germany`DEU`Western Europe	209
Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	207
Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	207
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	157
Paraguay`PRY`South America	155
Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	150
Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	138
Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	128
Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	124
Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	117
Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	117
South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	107
Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	102
Oman`OMN`Western Asia	95
Uruguay`URY`South America	93
Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	73
Belize`BLZ`Central America	72
Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	70
Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	70
Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	67
Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	67
Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	63
Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	60
Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	58
Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	56
Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	53
France`FRA`Western Europe	50
Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	48
Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	45
Suriname`SUR`South America	42
Tonga`TON`Polynesia	41
New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	39
Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	37
Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	36
Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	29
Austria`AUT`Western Europe	23
Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	23
Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	21
Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	19
Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	19
Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	17
Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	16
Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	15
Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	12
São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	11
Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	10
Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	8
Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	7
Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	7
Niue`NIU`Polynesia	6
Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	5
Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	5
Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	5
Palau`PLW`Micronesia	5
Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	5
Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0
Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	0
British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0
Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0
Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0
Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0
Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0
Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0
Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0
Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0
Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	0
Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0
Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0
Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0
Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0

02In 2023

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Afghanistan6,403,144
Syria6,355,788
Ukraine5,960,362
South Sudan2,292,482
Sudan1,496,923

Lowest

British Virgin Islandsshared0
Tuvalushared0
Timor-Lesteshared0
Puerto Ricoshared0
Maltashared0

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 919. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

What changed between 2022 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+4 / −5countries joined / left
181values changed, of 195 in both
116 · 65rose · fell
14unchanged

Rose most

Afghanistan5,661,717 → 6,403,144+741,427
Sudan837,188 → 1,496,923+659,735
Ukraine5,684,177 → 5,960,362+276,185
Venezuela230,393 → 347,695+117,302
Azerbaijan42,116 → 158,098+115,982

Fell most

Syria6,559,736 → 6,355,788−203,948
Palestine104,307 → 41,077−63,230
Cameroon147,352 → 110,715−36,637
Pakistan112,357 → 94,481−17,876
Sri Lanka148,144 → 145,319−2,825

+ Bermuda

+ Marshall Islands

+ Puerto Rico

+ Tuvalu

− Aruba

− Cayman Islands

− Micronesia

− Liechtenstein

− Vatican City

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

174 distinct values among 199
Values are stored exactly as published. 15 countries share 0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 199 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
199 rows · 5.2 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download refugees-by-origin-2023-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=2023&yearTo=2023&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 (2023). Refugees by Country of Origin, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/refugees-by-origin/2023

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2022
200 countries
The year after ›
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2024
200 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