Data for 2016
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016
Figures for 2016, as UNHCR published them · stored as published, never rewritten
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016 covers 190 countries. Syria is highest, at 5,524,511; 8 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 935. Against 2015, 176 values changed (69 up, 107 down), 3 left.
Refugees by Country of Origin · Data for 2016
HighestSyria
5,524,511Lowest8 countries share it
0Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.
01Values only
The table
Every country and every column of Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.
Showing 25 of 190 countries · select a heading to sort
| 5,524,511 | |
| 2,501,447 | |
| 1,436,707 | |
| 1,012,320 | |
| 650,391 | |
| 537,474 | |
| 490,879 | |
| 490,285 | |
| 457,247 | |
| 408,066 | |
| 329,341 | |
| 316,056 | |
| 311,059 | |
| 286,063 | |
| 239,062 | |
| 229,290 | |
| 207,768 | |
| 156,415 | |
| 117,472 | |
| 105,419 | |
| 97,794 | |
| 94,102 | |
| 83,958 | |
| 62,759 | |
| 57,915 | |
| 46,811 | |
| 36,928 | |
| 36,263 | |
| 29,671 | |
| 26,231 | |
| 23,054 | |
| 19,792 | |
| 19,617 | |
| 18,427 | |
| 18,194 | |
| 18,141 | |
| 17,536 | |
| 15,527 | |
| 14,176 | |
| 13,842 | |
| 13,291 | |
| 13,056 | |
| 12,549 | |
| 12,428 | |
| 11,757 | |
| 11,589 | |
| 11,060 | |
| 10,707 | |
| 10,509 | |
| 10,387 | |
| 10,344 | |
| 10,118 | |
| 8,831 | |
| 8,388 | |
| 8,364 | |
| 8,296 | |
| 7,543 | |
| 7,526 | |
| 7,288 | |
| 7,229 | |
| 6,558 | |
| 6,405 | |
| 6,229 | |
| 5,940 | |
| 4,719 | |
| 4,678 | |
| 3,831 | |
| 3,824 | |
| 3,705 | |
| 2,909 | |
| 2,599 | |
| 2,571 | |
| 2,366 | |
| 2,352 | |
| 2,316 | |
| 2,282 | |
| 2,240 | |
| 1,998 | |
| 1,919 | |
| 1,730 | |
| 1,687 | |
| 1,650 | |
| 1,437 | |
| 1,419 | |
| 1,409 | |
| 1,363 | |
| 1,335 | |
| 1,266 | |
| 1,230 | |
| 1,195 | |
| 1,159 | |
| 1,041 | |
| 1,013 | |
| 993 | |
| 937 | |
| 932 | |
| 803 | |
| 799 | |
| 792 | |
| 791 | |
| 713 | |
| 579 | |
| 572 | |
| 530 | |
| 495 | |
| 487 | |
| 479 | |
| 461 | |
| 453 | |
| 452 | |
| 427 | |
| 426 | |
| 401 | |
| 371 | |
| 359 | |
| 303 | |
| 302 | |
| 298 | |
| 295 | |
| 292 | |
| 269 | |
| 265 | |
| 256 | |
| 243 | |
| 224 | |
| 202 | |
| 167 | |
| 165 | |
| 147 | |
| 144 | |
| 131 | |
| 120 | |
| 106 | |
| 103 | |
| 101 | |
| 100 | |
| 82 | |
| 78 | |
| 76 | |
| 74 | |
| 71 | |
| 68 | |
| 67 | |
| 58 | |
| 58 | |
| 53 | |
| 50 | |
| 49 | |
| 49 | |
| 48 | |
| 44 | |
| 38 | |
| 35 | |
| 35 | |
| 34 | |
| 33 | |
| 32 | |
| 31 | |
| 25 | |
| 25 | |
| 25 | |
| 23 | |
| 20 | |
| 20 | |
| 20 | |
| 19 | |
| 19 | |
| 16 | |
| 15 | |
| 15 | |
| 14 | |
| 13 | |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| 6 | |
| 5 | |
| 5 | |
| 5 | |
| 5 | |
| 5 | |
| 5 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 |
02In 2016
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline.
Highest
Syria5,524,511
Afghanistan2,501,447
South Sudan1,436,707
Somalia1,012,320
Sudan650,391
Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 935. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
032015 → 2016
Since 2015
What changed between 2015 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.
- +0 / −3countries joined / left
- 176values changed, of 190 in both
- 69 · 107rose · fell
- 14unchanged
Rose most
South Sudan778,722 → 1,436,707+657,985
Syria4,873,236 → 5,524,511+651,275
Burundi292,750 → 408,066+115,316
Nigeria167,973 → 229,290+61,317
Iraq264,086 → 316,056+51,970
Fell most
Pakistan297,886 → 105,419−192,467
Afghanistan2,666,294 → 2,501,447−164,847
Somalia1,123,144 → 1,012,320−110,824
Ukraine321,399 → 239,062−82,337
Colombia340,116 → 311,059−29,057
Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.
04Caveats
Read before you use
What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.
167 distinct values among 190
Values are stored exactly as published. 8 countries share 0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Which end is better
Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 190 countries has every column.
05The files
Download and cite
The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.
- .csv
For a spreadsheet or code
190 rows · 5.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download refugees-by-origin-2016-nations-inquiry.csv - ↗
The publisher’s original
UNHCR’s own file, on its own site.
https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=1000&yearFrom=2016&yearTo=2016&coo_all=true
What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.
Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.
Cite this edition
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (2016). Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/refugees-by-origin/2016
0634 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2015193 countries
The year after ›
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2017193 countries
All of them
Refugees by Country of Origin: every year34 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country
07Questions
Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016: questions and answers
Which country has the highest refugees by country of origin in Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016?
Syria, at 5,524,511, of the 190 countries in the file.
What year does Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016 describe?
2016.
How many countries does Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016 cover?
190.
Where can I download Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016?
On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.
Is Refugees by Country of Origin, 2016 the newest?
No. The newest held here is Refugees by Country of Origin, 2025.