Population figures
Total country population
129,719,719
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
997,892
Asylum-seekers:
63,855
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
3,245,484
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
0
Host community
1,150,839
Others of concern to UNHCR
616
Country context
Ethiopia, a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa—a region frequently affected by conflict and forced displacement—faces a complex humanitarian landscape marked by significant internal and cross-border displacement. While some internal displacement is driven by climatic shocks such as droughts and floods, the majority results from ongoing conflict and insecurity, particularly in the Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Gambella regions.
Despite these challenges, Ethiopia has maintained a longstanding open-door policy toward refugees and asylum-seekers. Hosting over one million refugees—primarily from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan—Ethiopia is the third-largest refugee-hosting country in Africa. Most refugees reside in 20 camps and 7 settlements, mainly in the Gambella and Somali regions, while others, particularly Eritreans, live in urban areas such as Addis Ababa.
...Ethiopia is a member of several regional and international bodies, including the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and BRICS.
Ethiopia is a State Party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as well as the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. In line with these commitments, Ethiopia enacted Refugees Proclamation No. 1110/2019—a progressive legal framework that guarantees refugees and asylum-seekers a wide range of rights, including access to employment, education, healthcare, justice, financial services, and freedom of movement. The Proclamation also establishes Refugee Status Determination (RSD) procedures aligned with international standards.
In February 2020, Ethiopia ratified the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (Kampala Convention), signaling its intent to strengthen legal protections for IDPs. However, the Convention has yet to be fully domesticated. Ethiopia is not a State Party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Nevertheless, during the 2019 High-Level Segment on Statelessness, Ethiopia pledged to improve access to birth registration—a key measure in preventing statelessness. Despite this commitment, data gaps persist, making it difficult to assess the true scale of statelessness and the number of individuals at risk.
Since November 2021, access to asylum procedures has been constrained by operational and security challenges. Nonetheless, Ethiopia continues to register new arrivals, including those fleeing renewed conflict in Sudan and ongoing instability in South Sudan and Somaliland. Internally, persistent insecurity and intercommunal violence continue to displace populations. Concurrently, climate change remains a major threat to development, with recurrent droughts and floods exacerbating vulnerabilities. The combined impact of conflict, climate shocks, and cross-border displacement has significantly increased humanitarian needs, placing growing pressure on national systems and humanitarian actors.
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Sources: UNHCR Refugee Data finder https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ | 2024 mid-year figures. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022, Online Edition https://population.un.org/wpp/assets/Files/WPP2022_Data_Sources.pdf