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

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...

Countries reporting
4
Highest
2.48 million
Palestine
Lowest
228,274
Lebanon
Median
1.38 million
Years covered
66
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; 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 (up 18.1%), and the largest decrease in Lebanon (down 50.2%).

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

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Palestine 2.48 million 2025 up 18.1% volatile
2 Jordan 2.40 million 2025 up 11.8% volatile
3 Syria 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.

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).