The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide has fallen for the first time in ten years, according to new figures from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Its latest Global Trends report estimates that 117.8 million people were living in displacement at the end of 2025, either within their own countries or across international borders.

Of that total, 68.7 million were internally displaced people uprooted by conflict, violence or human rights abuses but still inside their home countries. A further 41.6 million were refugees and others in need of international protection, having crossed borders to seek safety.

UNHCR attributes the overall decline to a modest but significant rise in refugee returns from some of the world’s most protracted crises. The agency reports that the global refugee population shrank by about 3 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, driven largely by movements back to Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

These returns, however, are far from a simple success story. Many people have gone back to areas where basic services are shattered, security is fragile and political settlements remain uncertain. Humanitarian agencies warn that without sustained support, returnees risk being displaced again or trapped in extreme poverty.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih said the figures show both the scale of today’s crises and the possibilities that open when violence subsides. He stressed that durable peace in a handful of major conflict zones could transform the global displacement picture, allowing millions more to return home “safely and in dignity” and easing pressure on host communities.

The report also highlights the heavy burden carried by low and middle income countries, which continue to host the vast majority of the world’s refugees despite their own economic and political strains. UNHCR is urging wealthier states to expand resettlement, increase development financing for host regions and uphold the right to seek asylum at their borders.

The findings come in a year that marks the 75th anniversary of the Convention on the Status of Refugees, the cornerstone of international refugee protection. UNHCR officials say the modest downturn in global displacement underscores the convention’s enduring relevance, while underlining that only political solutions to conflict can bring the numbers down in a lasting way.