Europe figures at a glance
Europe figures at a glance
19.5 million people were forcibly displaced in Europe
At the end of 2023 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.
Statistics and information about refugees and asylum-seekers on specific situations in Europe
Browse UNHCR's main Europe sea arrivals data portal, publications, platforms and tools.
Browse UNHCR's main South Eastern Europe data portal, publications, platforms and tools.
Browse UNHCR's Ukraine Refugee Situation main data portal, publications, platforms and tools.
How many refugees have arrived in Europe?
According to UNHCR data, by the end of 2023, the number of people displaced across borders hosted in European countries was 13 million. This is an increase of about 600,000 compared to 2022, primarily resulting from the full-scale war on Ukraine, which started in February 2022 and has resulted in one of the largest human displacement crises globally and the largest refugee influx in Europe in decades.
Türkiye remained among the largest refugee-hosting countries worldwide, with 3.3 million refugees by end-2023. Germany is the second largest refugee-hosting country in the Europe region and the fourth largest globally, hosting 2.6 million refugees by the end of 2023.
There are also 493,835 of stateless people in Europe, who have been denied a nationality and lack access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment and freedom of movement.
Are all refugees coming to Europe?
No. Nearly 75 per cent of the world’s refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad were hosted by low- and middle-income countries as of the end of 2023, and 69 per cent were hosted in neighbouring countries. The Global Compact on Refugees emphasizes the importance of greater responsibility-sharing and solidarity with refugee-hosting countries and communities.
How many people are displaced within their own country in Europe?
By the end of 2023, the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Europe reached nearly 5 million, mainly in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Serbia and Kosovo - S/RES/1244 (1999) Link is external.
The full-scale war in Ukraine has resulted in the displacement of millions within the country. Estimates of these populations are challenging due to the rapidly evolving situation. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducts randomized, representative telephone surveys to estimate the number of people displaced within Ukraine. As of April 2024, there were an estimated 3.5 million IDPs in Ukraine.
Data on forced displacement and stateless populations
We track the number of people forced to flee and use data and statistics to inform and optimize our work and the work of our partners to better protect, assist and provide solutions. This means that when a major displacement crisis erupts, we can predict how many people need help, what kind of help they need and how many staff we should deploy.
UNHCR releases two flagship statistical reports on global forced displacement each year, the Global Trends report and the Mid-Year Trends report.
The Global Trends report, released annually in June, analyses changes and trends in forcibly displaced populations in the previous calendar year (from 1 January to 31 December). It provides key statistics on the global numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people and stateless people, as well as their main host countries and countries of origin. The figures on this page are based on the Global Trends report.
In October each year, the Mid-Year Trends report is released to provide updated figures and analysis for the initial six months of the current year (from 1 January to 30 June). These figures are preliminary, and the final data is included in the subsequent Global Trends report released in June of the following year.
In addition, UNHCR also releases the Global Report in June each year, providing an overview of our key results along with an analysis of UNHCR's funding and expenditure.
More UNHCR data, analysis and publications
Visit the UNHCR data page to learn more about how UNHCR collects data and access our flagship publications, data visualizations and statistical databases.