World’s migrant population at all-time high, study confirms
September 30, 2016
The number of people who had been forced to leave their homes reached an all-time high of 60 million worldwide at the close of 2015, a study by the UN has found.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees found that displaced people account for close to 1% of the world’s entire population: the highest percentage ever recorded since the UN began keeping statistics in 1951. The percentage of migrants in the world’s population was relatively steady during the 1950s and 1960s, rose during the 1980s, then settled back in the 1990s before soaring since 2010.
The highest percentage of displaced persons is found, not surprisingly in the Middle East, where 5.6% of the population is displaced. The figure in Africa, 1.6%, is also well above the global norm.
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