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South Africa
South Africa — forced displacement statistics — 1951–2025.
Hosting fell to 45% of ten years agoMost refugees from here are now in IrelandLargest origin of refugees hosted here: DR Congo
Source: UNHCR Refugee Population Statistics Database (data as of 31 December 2025; retrieved 19 August 2026). UNHCR · CC-BY-4.0
Year-end 0
Not reported
1951–2025 time series
Source: UNHCR Refugee Population Statistics Database (data as of 31 December 2025; retrieved 19 August 2026). UNHCR · CC-BY-4.0
Age and sex (0)
Age and sex (2010)
A total of 229,601 was reported for this year, but no age/sex breakdown — common for high-income host countries.
Source: UNHCR Refugee Population Statistics Database (data as of 31 December 2025; retrieved 19 August 2026). UNHCR · CC-BY-4.0
Top countries of origin
Top countries of origin (2000)
| Country | Refugees | Asylum-seekers |
|---|---|---|
| Somalia | 4,810 | 626 |
| DR Congo | 4,454 | 759 |
| Angola | 3,897 | 371 |
| Burundi | 632 | 1,165 |
| India | 0 | 1,450 |
| Pakistan | 5 | 1,389 |
| Ethiopia | 5 | 1,355 |
| Congo | 592 | 658 |
| Nigeria | 5 | 1,036 |
| Rwanda | 402 | 432 |
Top host countries
Top host countries (2000)
| Country | Refugees | Asylum-seekers |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 48 | 37 |
| Canada | 26 | 36 |
| Australia | 0 | 25 |
| France | 25 | 0 |
| Sweden | 16 | 0 |
| United Kingdom | 15 | 0 |
| Netherlands (Kingdom of the) | 11 | 0 |
| Morocco | 6 | 0 |
| Switzerland | 6 | 0 |
| Brazil | 5 | 0 |
Source: UNHCR Refugee Population Statistics Database (data as of 31 December 2025; retrieved 19 August 2026). UNHCR · CC-BY-4.0
Sources
| Source | License | data as of | retrieved | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNHCR — Refugee Population Statistics Database — country list | CC-BY-4.0 | 2026-08-19 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| UNHCR — Refugee Population Statistics Database — population figures | CC-BY-4.0 | 2025-12-31 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| UNHCR — Refugee Population Statistics Database — demographics | CC-BY-4.0 | 2025-12-31 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| UNHCR (data: IDMC) — IDMC internal displacement figures via UNHCR API | CC-BY-IGO | 2025-12-31 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| UNHCR — Refugee Population Statistics Database — solutions | CC-BY-4.0 | 2025-12-31 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| UNHCR — Refugee Population Statistics Database — asylum applications | CC-BY-4.0 | 2025-12-31 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| UNHCR — Refugee Population Statistics Database — footnotes | CC-BY-4.0 | 2025-12-31 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| United Nations, DESA, Population Division — World Population Prospects 2024 — total population by sex | CC-BY-3.0-IGO | 2023-07-01 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
| Natural Earth (via world-atlas) — Admin 0 – Countries, 1:50m | Public Domain | 2022-05-01 | 2026-08-19 | up to date |
Snapshot a3bf514b · Methodology · Boundaries
Data coverage
How complete is the record for this country — metric by metric.
| Value | Hosting / Originating | First reported | First non-zero | Last reported | Years reported | Longest gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refugees | Hosting | 1993 | 1993 | 2025 | 33/33 | — |
| Refugees | Originating | 1966 | 1966 | 2025 | 60/60 | — |
| Asylum-seekers | Hosting | 1993 | 2000 | 2025 | 33/33 | — |
| Asylum-seekers | Originating | 1966 | 2000 | 2025 | 60/60 | — |
| Others of concern | Originating | 1966 | 2015 | 2025 | 60/60 | — |
| Returned refugees | Hosting | 1993 | 1994 | 2025 | 33/33 | — |
| Returned refugees | Originating | 1966 | 1969 | 2025 | 60/60 | — |
A missing year is not zero — it is missing. And the start of counting is not the start of events: several metrics only began collection later (stateless 2004, OIP 2018; the IDP series runs from 1993 and switches to IDMC compilation in 2009).