Somalia vs Sudan: Refugees by country of origin
Somalia
894,049 people
in 2024
Sudan
2.09 million people
in 2024
Somalia rank
8th
Sudan rank
5th
Refugees by country of origin over time
- Somalia
- Sudan
How they compare
Sudan currently reports 2.09 million people against 894,049 people in Somalia, a difference of 1.20 million people.
That makes Sudan's figure about 2.3 times Somalia's.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 50 shared years of data; in 1975 it was Sudan ahead.
Somalia ranks 8th and Sudan ranks 5th of 204 countries.
Across the 6 decades both report, Somalia averaged higher in 2 and Sudan in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Somalia | Sudan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 80 people | 10,830 people | 10,750 people | Sudan |
| 1980s | 77,840 people | 158,560 people | 80,720 people | Sudan |
| 1990s | 618,732 people | 394,760 people | 223,972 people | Somalia |
| 2000s | 469,604 people | 552,038 people | 82,434 people | Sudan |
| 2010s | 1.02 million people | 620,269 people | 398,247 people | Somalia |
| 2020s | 822,325 people | 1.21 million people | 385,993 people | Sudan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher refugees by country of origin, Somalia or Sudan?
- Sudan, at 2.09 million people against 894,049 people in Somalia as of 2024.
- What is the difference in refugees by country of origin between Somalia and Sudan?
- 1.20 million people, with Sudan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Somalia and Sudan?
- 50 years are reported by both, from 1975 to 2024.
- How do Somalia and Sudan rank globally for refugees by country of origin?
- Somalia ranks 8th and Sudan ranks 5th of 204 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- UNHCR (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Refugees by country of origin. 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, not just those who fled that year.