2023 Global Report on Internal Displacement

IDMC's Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) is the world’s leading source of data and analysis on internal displacement. This year's edition includes a special focus on the complex relationships between disasters, conflict and violence, food security and internal displacement.

Internal displacement reached all-time high in 2022

How we measure internal displacement

See how we measure internal displacement

Ethiopian children running. The country is enduring its worst drought in four decades, that triggered 686,000 displacements in 2022.

Part 1: The global picture

Internally displaced people (IDPs) at the end of 2022

What is the total number of IDPs?

The total number of IDPs is a snapshot of all the people living in internal displacement at the end of the year

The number of IDPs continues to rise

The number of people living in internal displacement reached a record high of 71.1 million people across 110 countries and territories

Why does the number of IDPs keep increasing?

Rapidly escalating conflict and violence in countries such as Ukraine and DRC and significant disasters such as flooding in Pakistan forced millions of people to flee in 2022. They joined the tens of millions of people already living in prolonged displacement as a result of protracted conflict, repeated disasters and a lack of durable solutions.

What is needed to reduce the number of IDPs?

Supporting IDPs to return, integrate locally or resettle elsewhere in their countries is essential. Better data and evidence on solutions are key to informing tailored prevention and response that allow us to effectively measure the end of displacement. Conflict resolution, peacebuilding, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, food security and poverty reduction must all be strengthened.

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Total number of IDPs by conflict and violence as of 31 December 2022

There were 71.1 million internally displaced people across the world at the end of 2022, 62.5 million as a result of conflict and violence, and 8.7 million as a result of disasters.

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People already displaced by conflict in north of Aleppo, Syria, had their tents damaged by snowstorms in January 2022.

Internal displacements in 2022

There were 60.9 million internal displacements, or movements, recorded during the year across 151 countries and territories. 60% more than in 2021 and also the highest figure ever. A record 32.6 million were associated with disasters and 28.3 million with conflict and violence.

What are internal displacements?

The internal displacements figure refers to the number of forced movements of people within the borders of their country recorded during the year

Highest figure in a decade

Conflict and violence displacements in 2022 were

3x higher

than the annual average of the past ten years

Key displacement situations

60%

of global conflict and violence displacements were recorded in Ukraine as people repeatedly fled from rapidly shifting frontlines

4 million

conflict and violence displacements took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1.5 times more than in 2021

106,000

internal displacements in Haiti, a five-fold increase compared to 2021 and the highest figure ever recorded for the country

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Countries and territories with most internal displacements in 2022

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A woman cooks cassava in Ituri province, DRC, where increased food prices are worsening food security.

Regional overviews

Total number of IDPs

by conflict and violence

by disasters

Internal Displacements

by conflict and violence

by disasters

Around 16.5 million internal displacements were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, an increase of 17 per cent compared with the previous year. This is explained by a near three-fold increase in the number of disaster displacements to 7.4 million, the highest figure ever reported for the region.

Read regional overview

For more in-depth updates, explore our spotlights:

Photo for Spotlight on Democratic Republic Congo

SPOTLIGHTS

The Democratic Republic of the Congo:

overlapping displacement and food insecurity in the east

Read spotlight

SPOTLIGHTS

Somalia:

worst drought in 40 years fuels food insecurity and displacement

Read spotlight

SPOTLIGHTS

Madagascar:

storms and drought trigger displacement and heighten food insecurity

Read spotlight

"There is an increasing need for durable solutions to meet the scale of the challenges facing displaced people. This spans the expansion of cash assistance and livelihood programmes that improve IDPs’ economic security, through to investments in risk reduction measures that strengthen their communities’ resilience."

Alexandra Bilak, Director, IDMC

Part 2: Internal displacement and food security

Overlapping crises: what the data reveals

Taken together, entrenched conflict, disasters and displacement aggravated global food security in 2022, which was already a concern as a result of the slow and uneven recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Low-income countries, many of which are dealing with internal displacement, were most affected, in part given their reliance on food and fertiliser imports and international humanitarian aid.

The data available on food security and internal displacement is far from comprehensive, but it reveals how the two phenomena overlap. 75% of the countries assessed as facing crisis levels of food security have IDPs.

No food security data is available for some countries with large internally displaced populations, including Colombia, Myanmar and Syria. It is essential such gaps are filled, because it is likely that many IDPs are experiencing food insecurity but their needs are not identified.

Comparison between food security and the number of IDPs

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Pursuing Solutions

Data gaps limit our understanding of how IDPs are affected by disruptions to food systems. Filling them would help to shine a light on the common drivers and impacts of displacement and food security and provide evidence to inform solutions.
Beyond immediate humanitarian assistance, investments are needed in anticipatory action and risk reduction measures that strengthen displaced communites' resilience.
Developing IDP's livelihoods and skills would help to facilitate durable solutions by increasing their food security and their communities’ and countries’ self-reliance at the same time.

Find out more about displacement and food security.

SPOTLIGHTS

Burkina Faso:

disaggregated data reveals links between displacement and food insecurity

Read spotlight

SPOTLIGHTS

South Sudan:

floods, violence and food insecurity fuel ongoing crisis

Read spotlight

Damaged buildings in the Old City in west Mosul, Iraq, which is still in reconstruction even as fighting has subsided in the last years.

Downloads

Explore the latest displacement figures and analysis in the Global Report on Internal Displacement.

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View Foreword

Background papers

View FAO - Rethinking Foo...

Country Figures and other Methodological documents

View Methodological note ...

In their own works

Launch of GRID 2023

With Thanks

Media Pack

Download Press Release

Biography of spokespeople

Infographics

Contact

Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)

Humanitarian Hub Office, La Voie Creuse 16, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland

General Inquiries

info@idmc.ch

Media Inquiries

media@idmc.ch

Copyright © Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on this page may be shared freely providing an acknowledgement of IDMC as the source is included. Materials may not be adapted without prior permission from IDMC.

About us

IDMC's Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) is the world’s leading source of data and analysis on internal displacement Since our establishment in 1998 as part of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), we have offered a rigorous, independent and trusted service to the international community. Our work informs policy and operational decisions that improve the lives of the millions of people living in internal displacement, or at risk of becoming displaced in the future.