10/28/2026
The answer depends on whether you mean the country hosting the largest refugee population or the country producing the largest number of refugees and people needing international protection.
According to UNHCR's latest global data for 2025, Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan were the five leading countries of origin for refugees and other people in need of international protection. Venezuela was first, with approximately 6.5 million people in this category.
If the question is about the country hosting the largest refugee population, the answer depends on the year and definition used.
UNHCR's Global Trends 2024 report identified Iran as the largest refugee-hosting country, with approximately 3.5 million refugees and people in refugee-like situations at the end of 2024. Türkiye followed with approximately 2.9 million, Colombia with 2.8 million and Germany with 2.7 million.
UNHCR's country information has also described Iran as the world's largest refugee-hosting country based on its broader count of forcibly displaced people of different documentation statuses.
However, UNHCR's newer 2025 Refugee Data Portal presents a different comparison using its updated data categories: Colombia had 2.8 million, Germany 2.7 million, Türkiye 2.4 million, Uganda 1.9 million and Iran 1.7 million refugees and other people in need of international protection at the end of 2025.
This illustrates why it is important to state the year and definition when answering this question.
The answer is also different.
UNHCR's 2025 data shows that Venezuela was the largest country of origin, with around 6.5 million refugees and other people in need of international protection.
Ukraine followed with 5.2 million, Syria with 4.9 million, Afghanistan with 3.7 million and Sudan with 2.8 million.
These numbers reflect people under UNHCR's mandate and include refugees, people in refugee-like situations and other people in need of international protection. They should therefore not automatically be interpreted as a count of people who have formally received refugee status.
The main drivers include:
Armed conflict
Persecution
Political instability
Human rights violations
Violence
Ethnic or religious persecution
Severe insecurity
Natural disasters and climate-related pressures in some displacement contexts
The reasons can overlap. A conflict can destroy homes, infrastructure and livelihoods while simultaneously creating security threats that force people to cross international borders.
A refugee has crossed an international border to seek protection.
An internally displaced person (IDP) has been forced to leave their home but remains within their own country.
This distinction is important because a country can have a huge displacement crisis even when many displaced people have not crossed an international border.
At the end of 2025, Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh hosted approximately 1.1 million refugees, overwhelmingly Rohingya people from Myanmar. UNHCR describes Cox's Bazar as the location hosting the largest number of refugees and asylum-seekers worldwide since 2018.
There is no single answer to "which country has the biggest refugee problem."
For countries of origin, UNHCR's 2025 data places Venezuela first, followed by Ukraine and Syria. For host countries, rankings vary depending on the reporting year and population definition. UNHCR's 2024 Global Trends report identified Iran as the largest host country, while its 2025 data portal lists Colombia first under its latest categories.
UNHCR – Refugee Data Finder
UNHCR – Refugee Data Portal
UNHCR – Global Trends Report 2024
United Nations – Refugees
Wikipedia – Refugee
Unchannel - 10/28/2026