List of largest refugee crises

This article provides a list of data to rank the largest refugee crises in modern history by the event(s) that caused them. Only those events that resulted in the creation of at least one million refugees—not including internally displaced persons—are listed below.

For events for which estimates vary, the geometric mean of the lowest and highest estimates is calculated in order to rank them. As the dates for some events are disputed, the provided data only covers the time since or between the listed years.

Rows that are highlighted in blue denote crises that are ongoing, as of 2025. Data for these events may be outdated or disputed, and may be adjusted to reflect smaller or larger figures with newer analyses and reports.

Event	Refugees (est.)	Origin	From	Until	Duration	Ref.
World War II	60.0 million	Europe	1939	1945	6 years	[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Partition of India	20.0 million	South Asia	1947	1948	1 year	[7][8]
World War I	15.0 million	Europe	1914	1918	4 years	[9][10][11]
Bangladesh genocide	9.9 million	East Pakistan (Bangladesh)[note 1]	1971	1971	8 months	[12]
Venezuelan crisis	8.9 million	Venezuela	2014	Present	11 years	[13]
Russian invasion of Ukraine	7.0 million[note 2]	Europe	2022	Present	3 years, 7 months	[14][15][16][17]
Syrian civil war	6.7 million	Syria	2011	Present	14 years	[18]
Soviet–Afghan War	6.2 million	Afghanistan	1978	1989	11 years	[19]
Yemeni civil war (2014–present)	4.5 million	Yemen	2014	Present	11 years	[20]
Sudanese civil war (2023–present)	3.5 million	Republic of the Sudan	2023	Present	2 years, 5 months	[21]
Indochina crisis	3.0 million	Mainland Southeast Asia	1975	2000	25 years	[22]
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)	2.6–2.7 million	Afghanistan	2001	2021	20 years	[23][24]
Yugoslav Wars	2.4 million	Yugoslavia	1991	2001	10 years	[25]
Korean War	1.0–5.0 million	Korea	1950	1953	3 years	[26][27]
Iraq War	2.2 million	Iraq	2003	2011	8 years	[28]
Rwandan genocide	2.1 million	Rwanda	1994	1996	2 years	[29]
Iraqi uprisings	1.8 million	Iraq	1991	1991	1 month	[22]
Wars in the Caucasus	1.5–2 million	Caucasus	1988	1996	8 years	[30][31]
Mozambican Civil War	1.7 million	Mozambique	1977	1992	15 years	[22]
Arab–Israeli conflict	1.6 million (700,000+ Palestinians and 900,000+ Jews)	West Asia and North Africa	1947	Present	78 years	[32]
South Sudanese Civil War	1.5 million	Republic of South Sudan	2011	2020	9 years	[33]
Rohingya genocide	1.3 million	Myanmar	2016	Present	9 years	[34]
Armenian genocide	1.0 million	Ottoman Empire	1915	1923	8 years	[35][36][37][38][39]
Algerian War	1.0 million	Algeria	1954	1962	8 years	[22]
Irish Great Famine	1.0 million	Ireland	1845	1849	4 years	[40]
First Libyan Civil War	1.0 million	Libya	2011	2011	8 months	[41]
Somali Civil War	1.0 million	Somalia	1991[note 3]	Present	34 years	[42]

Notes

1. Pakistan's Operation Searchlight began on 25 March 1971. The Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence occurred on 26 March 1971 before being taken up by the India-backed Provisional Government of Bangladesh on 10 April 1971.
2. Includes 5.7 million Ukrainian refugees globally (not IDPs) and 35,000 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia by the end of 2024; and 900,000+ (total) Russians fleeing the government's military campaign in Ukraine by the aftermath of the 2022 Russian mobilization.
3. Disputed. Various sources also assert 1981 or 1988 (in addition to 1991) as the years in which the conflict began, depending on the event chosen.

See also

• List of sovereign states by refugee population