Data for 1990

Refugee Population by Country of Asylum, 1990

Figures for 1990, as UNHCR published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Refugee Population by Country of Asylum, 1990 covers 111 countries. Iran is highest, at 4,174,401; Comoros is lowest, at 0. The middle country reads 10,816.

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Refugee Population by Country of Asylum · Data for 1990

HighestIran

4,174,401

LowestComoros

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.

111countries
1measure
1990the year it describes
111distinct valueswhole numbers, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Refugee Population by Country of Asylum, 1990, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 111 countries · select a heading to sort

Refugee Population by Country of Asylum, 1990: every country, as published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

IranIRNSouthern Asia	4,174,401
PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	3,255,975
SudanSDNNorthern Africa	1,031,050
MalawiMWIEastern Africa	926,725
GermanyDEUWestern Europe	816,000
EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	773,764
United StatesUSANorthern America	464,887
SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	460,000
DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	416,435
MexicoMEXCentral America	356,400
GuineaGINWestern Africa	325,000
ChinaCHNEastern Asia	287,276
Costa RicaCRICentral America	276,210
Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	272,281
BurundiBDIEastern Africa	268,403
TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	265,184
HondurasHNDCentral America	237,100
GuatemalaGTMCentral America	223,377
IndiaINDSouthern Asia	212,743
FranceFRAWestern Europe	193,000
ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	190,950
AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	169,110
CanadaCANNorthern America	154,761
UgandaUGAEastern Africa	145,718
ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	138,049
Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	125,830
SwedenSWENorthern Europe	109,654
ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	99,821
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	97,915
DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	77,606
MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	60,000
SenegalSENWestern Africa	58,113
CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	49,876
HungaryHUNEastern Europe	45,123
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	43,625
EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	42,074
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	40,943
AustriaAUTWestern Europe	34,938
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	32,887
BelizeBLZCentral America	30,657
TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	28,000
BelgiumBELWestern Europe	25,911
RwandaRWAEastern Africa	23,601
VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	21,150
El SalvadorSLVCentral America	20,300
PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	19,860
NorwayNORNorthern Europe	19,581
NepalNPLSouthern Asia	17,800
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	17,337
NicaraguaNICCentral America	16,000
MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	14,862
KenyaKENEastern Africa	14,249
MaliMLIWestern Africa	13,411
ArgentinaARGSouth America	11,735
AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	11,557
ItalyITASouthern Europe	10,816
GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	8,488
SpainESPSouthern Europe	8,303
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	8,161
GhanaGHAWestern Africa	8,123
Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	7,099
JapanJPNEastern Asia	6,819
BrazilBRASouth America	5,335
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	4,666
Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	4,284
SyriaSYRWestern Asia	4,125
CubaCUBCaribbean	3,988
NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	3,571
TogoTGOWestern Africa	3,477
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	3,278
Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	3,004
Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	2,990
YemenYEMWestern Asia	2,938
LebanonLBNWestern Asia	2,550
FinlandFINNorthern Europe	2,348
EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	1,991
Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	1,966
BahrainBHRWestern Asia	1,780
VenezuelaVENSouth America	1,750
PanamaPANCentral America	1,350
BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	1,178
SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	920
IraqIRQWestern Asia	900
PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	867
NigerNERWestern Africa	792
PeruPERSouth America	724
LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	687
JordanJORWestern Asia	640
EcuadorECUSouth America	510
ColombiaCOLSouth America	460
BeninBENWestern Africa	456
MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	420
GabonGABMiddle Africa	417
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	360
Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	350
MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	311
South KoreaKOREastern Asia	230
LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	212
MacauMACEastern Asia	205
BoliviaBOLSouth America	200
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	146
BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	145
UruguayURYSouth America	87
IcelandISLNorthern Europe	85
GambiaGMBWestern Africa	77
ParaguayPRYSouth America	66
ChileCHLSouth America	58
AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	50
CyprusCYPWestern Asia	31
TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	30
ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0

02In 1990

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Iran4,174,401
Pakistan3,255,975
Sudan1,031,050
Malawi926,725
Germany816,000

Lowest

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 10,816. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

03Caveats

Read before you use

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

The site’s method

Which end is better
Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 111 countries has every column.

04The 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
111 rows · 3.6 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download refugees-hosted-1990-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=1990&yearTo=1990&coa_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 (1990). Refugee Population by Country of Asylum, 1990 [data set], describing 1990. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/refugees-hosted/1990

0536 held

Other years

‹ The year before
This is the first year held here.
The year after ›
Refugee Population by Country of Asylum, 1991
116 countries
All of them
Refugee Population by Country of Asylum: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

06Questions