The number of people displaced by conflict and persecution around the world fell in 2025 for the first time in more than a decade, according to a new report by the UN refugee agency.
The report offers a rare sign of progress after years of rising displacement. Yet the agency warned that millions of refugees remain unable to rebuild their lives and continue to face years, and often decades, away from home.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 5.4 million people were newly displaced during 2025, bringing the total number of refugees and people in refugee-like situations worldwide to 41.6 million. The figure includes around 6 million Palestinian refugees.
At the same time, nearly 14.7 million refugees and internally displaced people returned home. That was a 50% increase on the previous year and the second-highest annual return figure recorded since 1965.
Most returns took place in six countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Myanmar.
However, returning home did not always mean returning to safety.
UNHCR warned that many people went back to communities struggling with damaged infrastructure, limited access to healthcare and education, and ongoing insecurity.
The agency said these conditions raise concerns about whether returns can be sustained over the long term.
Afghanistan recorded the largest number of returns in 2025. Around 2.9 million Afghans went back, including 1.9 million refugees.
The figure was five times higher than the previous year and was largely driven by tougher policies in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. Many Afghans reported feeling they had little choice but to leave.
As a result, the global Afghan refugee population fell sharply from 5.8 million in 2024 to 3.7 million in 2025.
Syria also saw significant returns following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad's government in December 2024.
Around 1.3 million Syrians returned home during 2025, almost three times the number recorded the previous year. The global Syrian refugee population declined from 6 million to 4.9 million by the end of the year.
But UNHCR cautioned that conditions remain difficult.
“However, many returnees face serious challenges, including insecurity, widespread destruction, weak economic conditions, limited services and jobs, and continued sporadic violence in parts of the country,” the report said.
While displacement fell overall in 2025, new crises are already influencing global trends this year.
According to UNHCR, around 3.2 million people have been temporarily displaced in Iran since joint U.S.-Israeli strikes at the end of February.
In Lebanon, about one million people have been forced from their homes since the outbreak of war on 2 March, amid Israeli strikes and evacuation orders.
The agency said the developments show how quickly new conflicts can reverse progress made elsewhere.
Despite the decline in refugee numbers, UNHCR stressed that long-term displacement remains one of the world's biggest humanitarian challenges.
Around 70% of refugees have been living in exile for five years or more, often in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iran.
The agency has set a goal of halving the number of refugees and others living in protracted displacement by 2035. It plans to do this by expanding access to education, employment and economic opportunities, particularly in lower and middle-income countries that host most of the world's refugees.
“Asylum and protection are life-saving and not up for debate, but we cannot accept a future in which millions of refugees remain trapped for years or decades without realistic prospects of rebuilding their lives,” said UNHCR High Commissioner Barham Salih.
The agency said supporting voluntary returns, while also helping refugees become more self-reliant in host countries, will be essential to achieving that goal.
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