Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of asylum by country

Name: Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of asylum
Creator: Refugee Population Statistics Database, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

Countries reporting

Highest

2.48 million

Palestine, State of

Lowest

228,274

Lebanon

Median

1.38 million

Years covered

1960–2025

Data points

1,320

What the numbers show

Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of asylum is currently reported for 4 countries. The highest value is 2.48 million in Palestine, State of; the lowest is 228,274 in Lebanon.

The median across all reporting countries is 1.38 million, and the mean is 1.37 million.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 11.

Over the past decade 2 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Palestine, State of (up 18.1%), and the largest decrease in Lebanon (down 50.2%).

Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Palestine, State of	2.48 million	2025	up 18.1%	volatile
2	Jordan	2.40 million	2025	up 11.8%	volatile
3	Syrian Arab Republic	357,985	2025	down 33.0%	rising
4	Lebanon	228,274	2025	down 50.2%	rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

Low & middle income 5.47 million
World 5.47 million
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 5.47 million
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 5.47 million
Arab World 5.47 million
Early-demographic dividend 5.24 million
Middle income 5.11 million
IDA & IBRD total 2.98 million
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) 2.98 million
Lower middle income 2.71 million
IBRD only 2.63 million
Upper middle income 2.40 million
IDA only 357,985
Low income 357,985
IDA total 357,985
Late-demographic dividend 228,274

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Refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA by country or territory of by country. Statizoid, drawing on Refugee Population Statistics Database, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Retrieved 12 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/refugees-under-the-mandate-of-the-unrwa-by-country-or-territory-of-asylum/

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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: 03 September 2026

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).