Forced Displacement Survey – Zambia 2025
Forced Displacement Survey – Zambia 2025
Zambia is the fourth country of the Forced Displacement Survey (FDS), UNHCR’s flagship household survey programme. The FDS was launched as a joint initiative of the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats), the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees (COR) and UNHCR, with financial support from the European Union.
Conducted in 2025, the FDS collected nationally representative, high-quality socio-economic data from over 4,000 households in Zambia—including refugees and asylum-seekers1, former refugees2, and host communities3.
In Zambia, the FDS yields vital insights into the lives and well-being of refugees generating evidence to inform inclusive, data-driven policymaking under the National Refugee Policy (2023) and its Implementation Plan. It generates evidence to extend development programmes into refugee-hosting areas towards transforming settlements into economic hubs. Its findings will not only guide the Government of the Republic of Zambia, UNHCR, and development partners in designing inclusive, evidence-based interventions but also allow the tracking of progress toward refugee inclusion in national systems.
Demography
All three groups of refugees, former refugees, and host communities have predominantly young populations, with refugees being the youngest. Around 35,000 refugee children are of school age (5–16 years). Disability is more common among refugees, especially among the elderly, where 29 per cent report functional limitations, compared to 19 per cent among former refugees and host communities.
Age distribution
Figure 1: Population pyramid of refugees, former refugees and host community, based on survey sample.
Note: Due to rounding, not all charts add up to 100%.
Source: FDS Zambia 2025
Displacement history
Findings indicate that the majority of refugees currently residing in Zambia originate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (84 per cent), followed by Burundi (12 per cent). Approximately 68 per cent of refugees were born outside Zambia, while 32 per cent were born within the country – mostly children of earlier arrivals. Among former refugees, 73 per cent were born in Zambia, reflecting long-term settlement where the likelihood of being born in the country of origin increases with age.
Birth location
Figure 2: Proportion of refugees, former refugees and host community that were not born in Zambia, by age group.
Documentation
Around 71 per cent of refugee children have had their births registered with civil authorities, whereas birth registration is less common among host community children (27 per cent) and former refugee children (38 per cent). The national average for Zambian children is 14 per cent, based on the 2018 SDG estimate.4
Birth registration
Figure 3: Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births were registered with a civil authority, by stratum.
Source: FDS Zambia 2025
Freedom of movement
Although nearly all refugees have some form of legally recognised documentation, only 29 per cent hold documents that grant some freedom of movement, either a Mobility Pass or a white Refugee ID card (allowing residence outside a settlement). Refugees in Lusaka are most likely to hold such documents, reflecting the fact that many are present in Lusaka because they have been granted special permission to live or move outside the settlements. In contrast, legal mobility is notably limited across all settlements, restricting access to education, employment, markets, and opportunities for self-reliance.
Legal ability to move
Figure 4: Legal ability to move – based on type of documents refugees hold, by stratum.
Livelihoods
Refugees in Zambia face significant economic challenges, with unemployment rates above the national average, reaching 40 per cent in some settlements. Most employment is informal, and median earnings for refugees are substantially lower than for host communities, with a significant gender pay gap. Over one in four refugee youth are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).
Despite progress in granting legal rights and inclusion to refugees, significant barriers remain around mobility, access to capital, and quality land (key factors for livelihoods and economic integration). While the Government of Zambia aims to transform settlements into “economic hubs” primarily focused on agriculture production, FDS findings show that livelihood and integration indicators remain low. This underscores the need for targeted interventions to ensure that refugees can fully participate in and benefit from Zambia’s economic development plans.
Food security
Households across refugee, former refugee, and host communities in Zambia face high levels of food insecurity and poor dietary diversity, with limited intake of nutrient-rich foods such as pulses, fruits, and animal proteins. 80 per cent of refugee households and an even higher share of former refugees have poor or borderline food consumption, affecting over 67,000 refugees. Vulnerability is highest among female-headed households, single-parent families, and those with three or more children under 15.
Food consumption score categories
Figure 5: Proportion of the population by household hunger scale and stratum.
Note: Due to rounding, not all charts add up to 100%.
Source: FDS Zambia 2025
Poverty
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) results reveal high levels of deprivation in all three dimensions – health, education and standards of living – for all three population groups, with refugees and former refugees experiencing the highest levels of multidimensional poverty across nearly all dimensions.
Many households are deprived of electricity, sufficient household assets, clean cooking fuel and adequate materials for their shelter. Households are also suffering from undernourishment, as many either have a child under five who is undernourished or have poor food consumption.
The MPI incidence is 68 per cent for refugees, 75 per cent for former refugees, and 64 per cent for host communities. Poverty is especially acute in Mantapala settlement, while urban refugees are relatively better off, likely due to improved access to services and more stable conditions.
Multidimensional poverty dimensions
Figure 5: Proportion of households, by global MPI dimensions and population group.
Source: FDS Zambia 2025
Footnotes
The refugee population is comprised of all individuals who are registered with the Government of Zambia and who have, through the Government’s refugee status determination process, been granted the legal status as a refugee. Any individual who has subsequently naturalized or otherwise regularized his/her legal stay in Zambia is no longer considered a refugee.
For the purposes of the FDS in Zambia, a former refugee is defined as any refugee in Zambia who was subject to a group application of the cessation clause and who holds a registration certificate issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees. In Zambia’s case, this covers Angolan (cessation 2012) and Rwandan (cessation 2013) refugees. People with a refugee background who have since naturalized or otherwise formalized their stay in Zambia are not included.
Defined as the national population living in proximity to the refugee population, interacting and sharing space, resources, and opportunities with refugees.
