More than nine-in-ten people worldwide live in countries with travel restrictions amid COVID-19
The movement of people across borders has halted in much of the world as countries close their borders in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The movement of people across borders has halted in much of the world as countries close their borders in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The number of people living in sub-Saharan Africa who were forced to leave their homes due to conflict reached a new high of 18.4 million in 2017, up sharply from 14.1 million in 2016 – the largest regional increase of forcibly displaced people in the world.
The U.S. has taken in 3 million of the more than 4 million refugees resettled worldwide since 1980. But in 2017, the U.S. resettled 33,000 refugees, the country’s lowest total since the years following 9/11.
Nearly 13 million Syrians are displaced after seven years of conflict in their country. No nation in recent decades has had such a large percentage of its population displaced.
More Christian than Muslim refugees have been admitted to the United States in the first months of the Trump administration, reversing a trend that had seen Muslims outnumber Christians in the final fiscal year under President Barack Obama, a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. State Department refugee data has found.
The number of refugees from the six travel-restricted countries represents 32% of all refugees who have entered the U.S. since Trump took office.
In 2016, European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland received more than 1.2 million asylum applications, below the record 1.3 million applications received in 2015.
Some 244 million people worldwide have left their countries of birth – many seeking improved economic opportunities or fleeing physical danger – but the impact of out-migration has been uneven worldwide.
More than 60 million people are displaced from their homes as of the end of 2015, the highest number of displaced people since World War II.
An estimated 12.5 million Syrians are now displaced, an unprecedented number in recent history for a single country.
1615 L St. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
USA
(+1) 202-419-4300 | Main
(+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax
(+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries
ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
© 2024 Pew Research Center