UNHCR: Number of displaced people is falling

TT

Updated 13.28 | Published 11.52

Afghan refugees gathered in Herat, Afghanistan. Photographed in 2025. Photo: Omid Haqjoo/AP/TT

The number of people fleeing violence and persecution is falling for the first time in ten years, according to the annual report from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

According to the report, 13 million people were forced to flee last year as a result of war and conflict. At the same time, over 14 million returned home, which is the main reason for the decline in the number of refugees.

Most have returned to countries that are still characterized by conflict and insecurity, including Afghanistan, Congo-Kinshasa, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

“This decline is largely due to people being forced to return to the countries they fled from, without receiving the support or resources they need to rebuild their lives,” Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told Norwegian NTB.

Despite the decrease, the level is twice as high as ten years ago. At the end of 2025, one in 70 people in the world was a refugee.