Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) vs Syria: Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
5.47 million
in 2025
Syria
357,985
in 2025
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) rank
1st
Syria rank
3rd

Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of over time

  • Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
  • Syria
02.0M4.0M6.0M196019922025

How they compare

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) currently reports 5.47 million against 357,985 in Syria, a difference of 5.11 million.

That makes Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s figure about 15.3 times Syria's.

Across all 66 years both countries report, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) has been ahead every year.

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) ranks 1st and Syria ranks 3rd of 16 groups.

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) Syria Difference Ahead
1960s 1.26 million 134,031 1.13 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
1970s 1.63 million 183,219 1.44 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
1980s 2.10 million 243,134 1.85 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
1990s 3.11 million 334,281 2.78 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
2000s 4.29 million 428,482 3.86 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
2010s 5.18 million 526,080 4.65 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
2020s 5.79 million 541,999 5.25 million Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher refugees under the mandate of the unrwa by country or territory of, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) or Syria?
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income), at 5.47 million against 357,985 in Syria as of 2025.
What is the difference in refugees under the mandate of the unrwa by country or territory of between Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) and Syria?
5.11 million, with Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) and Syria?
66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
How do Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) and Syria rank globally for refugees under the mandate of the unrwa by country or territory of?
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) ranks 1st and Syria ranks 3rd of 16 groups.
Where does this data come from?
Refugee Population Statistics Database, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), published as Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of asylum. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) vs Syria: Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of. Statizoid, drawing on Refugee Population Statistics Database, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Retrieved 19 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/refugees-under-the-mandate-of-the-unrwa-by-country-or-territory-of-asylum/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan-excluding-high-income/syrian-arab-republic/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/refugees-under-the-mandate-of-the-unrwa-by-country-or-territory-of-asylum/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan-excluding-high-income/syrian-arab-republic/">Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) vs Syria: Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of asylum
Source
Refugee Population Statistics Database, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
20 places, 1,320 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Refugees under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Palestine Refugees, are persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict. Palestine Refugees, and descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are eligible to register for UNRWA services. UNRWA accepts new applications from persons who wish to be registered as Palestine Refugees. Once they are registered with UNRWA, persons in this category are referred to as Registered Refugees. Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA are not typically included in the statistics on refugees (and people in a refugee-like situation) under the mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).