Internally displaced persons

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) compiles data on two types of internal displacement: new displacements during a given period, and the total stock of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at a given point in time. This statistical information is categorized by two broad displacement causes: (a) disasters and (b) conflict and violence. However, IDMC acknowledges the challenges associated with distinguishing between disasters and conflict as the immediate cause of displacement and highlights the growing need to identify better ways to report on displacement in the context of multiple drivers.⁴²

At an estimated 62.5 million, the total global stock of people internally displaced by conflict and violence in 65 countries and territories as of 31 December 2022 was the highest on record since IDMC began monitoring in 1998. As with trends for refugees (discussed in the previous section), intractable and new conflicts have meant that the total number of persons internally displaced by conflict and violence has more than doubled since 2012.

Figure 18 shows the world’s top 20 countries with the largest number of IDPs displaced due to conflict and violence (stock) at the end of 2022. Most countries were either in the Middle East or sub-Saharan Africa. The Syrian Arab Republic had the highest number of people displaced due to conflict (nearly 6.9 million) by the end of 2022, followed by Ukraine (5.9 million). The Democratic Republic of the Congo had the third-highest number (almost 5.7 million), followed by Colombia (around 4.8 million) and Yemen (4.5 million).

In terms of proportion of national population, the Syrian Arab Republic, whose conflict has dragged on for over a decade, had over 32 per cent of its population displaced due to conflict and violence. Somalia had the second-highest proportion (22%), followed by South Sudan, Yemen and Ukraine (with over 13%). It is important to note, however, that especially for protracted displacement cases, such as in Colombia, some people who have returned to their places of origin and to their homes may still be counted as internally displaced. This is because, in some cases, a durable solution has not been achieved.⁴³ Organizations such as IDMC follow the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons framework, which stipulates eight criteria that constitute a durable solution in determining when people should no longer be considered internally displaced.⁴⁴

Source: IDMC, n.d. (accessed 21 May 2023); UN DESA, 2022b.
Notes: IDP populations refer to the accumulated number of people displaced over time. The population size used to calculate the percentage of conflict IDPs is based on the total resident population of the country per UN DESA population estimates (2022).

In 2022, the global total number of persons displaced by disasters was around 8.7 million persons across 88 countries and territories. These people were reported to be still living in displacement at the end of 2022 due to disasters that occurred in 2022.

Displacements in 2022

By the end of 2022, there had been a total of 60.9 million internal displacements, 60 per cent more than in 2021 and the highest figure on record. Of these displacements, 53 per cent (32.6 million) were triggered by disasters and 47 per cent (28.3 million) were caused by conflict and violence.⁴⁵

In 2022, Ukraine (over 16 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4 million) topped the list with the highest numbers of displacements caused by conflict and violence, considerably influencing global numbers as a result. They were followed by Ethiopia (2 million), Myanmar (1 million) and Somalia (621,000). Pakistan experienced the highest absolute numbers of disaster displacements in 2022 (approximately 8.2 million).⁴⁶

As shown in Figure 19, in previous years, annual disaster displacements outnumbered displacements associated with conflict and violence. IDMC notes, however, that a significant portion of the global total of displacements by disasters is usually associated with short-term evacuations in a relatively safe and orderly manner.
 

Source: IDMC, n.d. (accessed 21 May 2023).

Notes: The term “displacements” refers to the number of displacement movements that occurred in a given year, not the total accumulated stock of IDPs resulting from displacement over time. Displacement figures include individuals who have been displaced more than once and do not correspond to the number of people displaced during a given year.