Nigeria vs Rwanda: Refugees by country of asylum
Nigeria
96,387 people
in 2024
Rwanda
114,368 people
in 2024
Nigeria rank
52nd
Rwanda rank
49th
Refugees by country of asylum over time
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
How they compare
Rwanda currently reports 114,368 people against 96,387 people in Nigeria, a difference of 17,981 people.
That makes Rwanda's figure about 1.2 times Nigeria's.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 49 shared years of data; in 1976 it was Rwanda ahead.
Nigeria ranks 52nd and Rwanda ranks 49th of 183 countries.
Rwanda has averaged higher in every one of the 6 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Nigeria | Rwanda | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 280 people | 7,625 people | 7,345 people | Rwanda |
| 1980s | 22,869 people | 29,351 people | 6,482 people | Rwanda |
| 1990s | 6,217 people | 50,080 people | 43,864 people | Rwanda |
| 2000s | 8,489 people | 43,793 people | 35,304 people | Rwanda |
| 2010s | 11,716 people | 107,832 people | 96,116 people | Rwanda |
| 2020s | 80,158 people | 122,430 people | 42,272 people | Rwanda |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher refugees by country of asylum, Nigeria or Rwanda?
- Rwanda, at 114,368 people against 96,387 people in Nigeria as of 2024.
- What is the difference in refugees by country of asylum between Nigeria and Rwanda?
- 17,981 people, with Rwanda ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Nigeria and Rwanda?
- 49 years are reported by both, from 1976 to 2024.
- How do Nigeria and Rwanda rank globally for refugees by country of asylum?
- Nigeria ranks 52nd and Rwanda ranks 49th of 183 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- UNHCR (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Refugees by country of asylum. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
People who fled their country of origin and are in need of international protection. Refugees are those who have already been granted asylum status in the country they moved to. This includes all refugees who live in this country, not just those who arrived that year.