List of largest refugee crises

This article provides a list of data to rank the largest refugee crises in modern history by the event(s) that caused them. Only those events that resulted in the creation of at least one million refugees—not including internally displaced persons—are included in this ranking.

For events for which estimates vary, the geometric mean of the lowest and highest estimates is calculated in order to rank them. As the dates for some events are disputed, the provided data only covers the time since or between the listed years.

List Rows that are highlighted in red denote crises that are ongoing, as of . Data for ongoing events may be outdated or disputed, and may be adjusted to reflect smaller or larger figures with newer analyses and reports.

EventRefugees (est.)OriginFromUntilDurationWorld War IIEurope19391945Partition of IndiaSouth Asia19471948World War IEurope191419184 yearsBangladesh genocideEast Pakistan (Bangladesh)19711971Venezuelan crisisVenezuela2014PresentEurope2022PresentSyrian civil warSyria20112024Soviet–Afghan WarAfghanistan19781989Yemeni civil war (2014–present)Yemen2014PresentSudanese civil war (2023–present)Republic of the Sudan2023Present making it the largest displacement crisis in the world.Indochina crisisMainland Southeast Asia19752000State of the World's Refugees, 2000 United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesWar in Afghanistan (2001–2021)Afghanistan2001202120 yearsYugoslav WarsYugoslavia19912001Korean WarKorean Peninsula19501953Iraq WarIraq20032011Rwandan genocideRwanda19941996Prunier 2009, pp. 24–25Iraqi uprisingsIraq19911991Wars in the CaucasusCaucasus19881996Mozambican Civil WarMozambique19771992Arab–Israeli conflictWest Asia and North Africa1947PresentSouth Sudanese Civil WarRepublic of South Sudan20112020Rohingya genocideMyanmar2016PresentArmenian genocide1 millionOttoman Empire191519238 years+Armenian refugees in the countries of the Middle East, 1925CountryPopulationSyria100,000Lebanon50,000Palestine & Jordan10,000Egypt40,000Iraq25,000Iran50,000Total275,000NARA 867.4016/816. From James W. Gerard to Secretary of State. November 1922. Approximate number of Armenians in the World. "Of the total indicated below, 817,873 are refugees from Turkey."Algerian WarAlgeria19541962Irish Great FamineIreland18451849First Libyan Civil WarLibya20112011Somali Civil WarSomalia1991Present

Notes

See also List of sovereign states by refugee population

References