Armed conflict displaced a record 32.3 million people in 2025 — a 60% increase on the previous year — overtaking natural disasters as the leading cause of internal displacement for the first time, according to a joint report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The total number of internally displaced people stood at 82.2 million at the end of 2025, the second highest figure on record and slightly below 2024’s peak. Across the year, 65.8 million new displacements were recorded, a figure that includes people forced to flee more than once.
“The numbers remain at historically high levels,” IDMC Director Tracy Lucas told AFP, describing the new displacement trends as “an alarm signal.” “We had never recorded such a dizzying number of conflict-related displacements,” she added.
Natural disasters accounted for 29.9 million displacements in 2025 — fewer than conflict for the first time.
Conflict concentrated in a handful of countries
Two thirds of new conflict displacements were recorded in Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo, at approximately 10 million each. At the end of 2025, 68.6 million people were internally displaced by conflict across 54 countries, with almost half concentrated in just five states.
Sudan recorded the largest number for the third consecutive year, with more than nine million displaced, followed by Colombia, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
“The internal displacement of tens of millions of people bears witness to the global collapse of conflict prevention and civilian protection,” NRC Director Jan Egeland said in a statement. “From the DRC to Sudan, through Iran and Lebanon, millions more people have been displaced and are added to levels that were already breaking records,” he added.
Disaster displacement falls but climate threat grows
Displacements caused by natural disasters fell 35% compared with the exceptionally high levels recorded in 2024, when figures were 13% above the decade average. Wildfires alone displaced nearly 700,000 people in 2025.
The report warns that as climate change intensifies, countries previously little affected are now facing mass displacement from disasters, while already vulnerable regions remain exposed. It calls for major investment in climate adaptation.
Funding cuts compound the crisis
The figures come as humanitarian organisations worldwide face growing financial pressure, driven in part by cuts to US funding under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The United States has historically been the largest donor country. Internally displaced persons, less visible than refugees, are among those hardest hit by the reductions.
The report also flags a significant drop in data availability, with Lucas telling AFP that the reduction had reached 15% in monitored countries. “Reliable data on internal displacement is absolutely necessary to understand where needs and risks are at their highest level, and so that policies and resources rise to the level of the challenges,” she said.
