IDMC Report: Record 83 Million People Living in Internal Displacement Worldwide
This 10th edition of the Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) once again presents record-breaking figures, with a global estimate of 83.4 million people living in internal displacement at the end of 2024 – more than twice the number reported in the first GRID a decade ago. Conflicts and violence have left 73.5 million people displaced and disasters 9.8 million, in both cases the highest figures on record. Behind each of these internally displaced people (IDPs) is a life uprooted and a future jeopardised.
The ever-increasing number of IDPs results in part from the insufficient support they receive to put an end to their displacement by returning home or making a new home elsewhere and addressing their related needs. Several countries dealing with crises that have lasted years or even decades, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Yemen, recorded their highest ever number of IDPs in 2024. In Sudan, which is home to one of the world’s most neglected humanitarian crises, 11.6 million were living in displacement at the end of the year.
Such figures are also the result of a collective failure to address the underlying causes of displacement. Issues such as poverty, inequality, instability and climate change drive movements year after year, adding newly displaced people to those already living in displacement and forcing many IDPs to move again, increasing their vulnerabilities with each new flight.
In Palestine, nearly all of the Gaza Strip’s population has been displaced, often various times. DRC accounted for 5.3 million internal displacements associated with conflict and violence in 2024, the country’s highest figure on record and 27 per cent of the global total of 20.1 million.
The number of internal displacements associated with disasters also reached its highest ever in 2024, and many countries reported record figures. The United States accounted for more than 11 million movements after several major hurricanes prompted mass evacuations. Many of the 45.8 million disaster displacements recorded around the world took the form of government-led pre-emptive evacuations, but they still come at a human and financial cost that could be reduced with further investments in preparedness and disaster risk reduction.
Issues such as poverty, inequality, instability and climate change drive movements year after year, adding newly displaced people to those already living in displacement.
Internal displacement is not only affecting more people. It is also recorded in an increasing number of countries and territories. The growing scale, spread and impacts of the phenomenon justify it receiving more visibility and attention in national and international policy debates.
With the UN Secretary General’s special adviser on solutions to internal displacement ending his mandate in December 2024, and as crises become more and more complex without the financial resources needed to address them, it becomes more imperative than ever to scale-up efforts to prevent further movements and resolve IDPs’ plight.
This GRID’s coverage ends in 2024, but the first months of 2025 have brought significant new shifts that are likely to have profound impacts on the lives of millions of displaced people around the world. Fewer financial and human resources across the humanitarian and development sectors, reprioritisation and reduced availability of data for some crises will all have repercussions on our collective ability to account for IDPs, identify and respond to their needs and make informed decisions to support them in achieving durable solutions.
Fast-approaching global targets, such as those of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, could be jeopardised as a result.
Demonstrating the immediate and longer-term consequences of internal displacement on affected people, societies and economies is ever more important to make the case for investments in solutions and prevention. Highlighting the links between displacement and other structural issues, such as urbanisation and education, is essential to ensure its inclusion in national priorities. Establishing robust evidence on these links and their impacts and scale is a necessary first step to inform discussions.
In an evolving landscape for humanitarian and development data users and producers, IDMC is refocusing its efforts to continue to provide the most essential metrics and analyses to guide governments and their partners in developing displacement-inclusive policies and plans, and to secure the financial resources they need to implement them.
Maintaining a strong evidence base, reporting on the world’s most salient displacement situations and identifying which interventions have been most impactful will be our objective in 2025 and beyond. Building on our extensive network of national and global partners, and on our 27 years of expertise and progress towards ever more comprehensive data, we are committed to preserving what has become an independent global baseline that is essential for maintaining awareness of, and accountability for internal displacement.
