By the end of the year, 117.8 million people remained displaced worldwide, 5.4 million fewer than in 2024, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a report, Anadolu Agency reported.
The decline was driven by a sharp rise in returns, with 14.7 million displaced people going back to their places of origin, including 4.4 million refugees, the second-highest number recorded in 60 years.
Of those displaced at the end of 2025, 41.6 million were refugees. Nearly 5.4 million people became refugees during the year, with 60% fleeing just eight countries, including almost 1 million from Sudan and nearly 800,000 from Ukraine.
The report also highlighted new displacement crises in 2026. Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March forced more than 1 million people from their homes.
The UN agency also warned about shrinking refugee resettlement opportunities. Although 2.9 million refugees needed resettlement, available places fell from a four-decade high of 188,800 in 2024 to just 81,800 in 2025, largely due to a sharp drop in US admissions.