The 46 least-developed countries represent less than 1.3% of the global gross domestic product (GDP), yet they are home to over 20% of all refugees, according to the UNHCR's Global Compact on Refugees 2023 report.

At the end of June, the number of people forced to flee at the global level stood at 110 million, 1.6 million more than at the end of 2022, the report said.

UNHCR estimates that in the trimester from June to September, the number of people forced to flee increased by four million, bringing the figure to a total of 114 million.

Over half of those who fled did not cross international borders.

In the middle of 2023, the number of refugees stood at 36.4 million. Of these, 87% came from ten countries: Syria (6.5 million), Afghanistan (6.1 million), Ukraine (5.9 million), Venezuela (5.6 million), South Sudan (2.2 million), Myanmar (1.3 million), Sudan (1 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (948.400), Somalia (814.600), and the Central African Republic (750.900).

Slightly over half of refugees in the world today are Afghan, Syrian or Ukrainian.

The number of refugees in the world has doubled since 2016. In just two years, the proportion of the world population increased from one refugee to every 400 people to one refugee to every 200 people.

The shared responsibility is also extremely uneven. 55% of refugees are hosted in only ten countries: Iran (3.4 million), Turkey (3.4 million), Germany (2.5 million), Colombia (2.5 million), Pakistan (2.1 million), Uganda (1.5 million), Russian Federation (1.2 million), Poland (989.900), Peru (987.200) and Bangladesh (961.800).

The majority (69%) of the people fleeing conflicts and persecution remain near their country of origin.

The figures also confirm that, both in terms of economic measures and in terms of population, it is typically medium-to-lower revenue countries that host the majority of the people fleeing (75%).

Needs exceed solutions

The needs of the people forced to flee continue to exceed the solutions, also in terms of voluntary repatriations and available funding. From 2016 to 2022, for each refugee who found a lasting solution for his or her situation, on average another five were forced to flee.

In the first semester of 2023, just over 404,000 refugees returned to their countries of origin -- more than double compared to the same period in 2022.

Some 2.7 million internally displaced persons returned to their homes, nearly double the figure registered in the first half of 2022. The number of refugees who resettled has increased, although the resettlement cases in the first half of 2023 were only 3% of the 2 million people who need to be resettled globally.