Publication

20 July 2015

Global Estimates 2015: People displaced by disasters

Global Estimates 2015: People displaced by disasters

Latest figures from IDMC estimate that more than 19.3 million people were forced to flee their homes by disasters in 100 countries in 2014. Hundreds of thousands more are still displaced following disasters in previous years.

Since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced from their homes by disasters brought on by natural hazards. This is the equivalent to one person being displaced every second. The number and scale of huge disasters creates significant fluctuation from year to year in the total number of people displaced, while the trend over decades is on the rise.

The time is opportune for displacement to be better addressed in major global policy agenda and their implementation in the post-2015 period. A comprehensive approach to displacement will help to forge strong links and continuity between these initiatives. 

This annual report, the sixth of its kind, draws on information from a wide range of sources, including governments, UN and international organisations, NGOs and media, to provide up-to-date figures and analysis on displacement caused by disasters associated with rapid-onset geophysical and weather-related hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and storms.

Full report

Global Estimates 2015: People displaced by disasters

 

Updates/Corrections

21 July 2015

Annex C, p. 96:

  • Mount Sinabung eruption in Indonesia: Estimate for protracted displacement revised to 3,500 people based on latest report. Source: Jakarta Post (citing the Mount Sinabung Disaster Mitigation Taskforce of the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), January 2015.
  • Sumatra earthquake in Indonesia: Estimate for protracted displacement revised to 9,100 people (1,900 families multiplied by national average household size of 4.8) Source: Jakarta Post (citing West Sumatra office of the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration)

Spotlight- US, Superstorm Sandy, p. 70-71:

  • Figures corrected. Please see Annex C, p. 93, for details.

Global map- protracted displacement, p. 49:

  • Correction to figure for US, Tropical Storm Sandy: 39,200

Press releases

19.3 million displaced by disasters but “mother nature not to blame’” says new report

19,3 millions de personnes déplacées par des catastrophes « pas si naturelles », indique un nouveau rapport

19,3 millones de personas se encuentran desplazadas a causa de desastres, pero el nuevo informe afirma que “no es culpa de la madre naturaleza”

1930万人の災害避難民も「自然のせいではない」と最新の報告

新报告指出:1930万人因灾害流徙但不能归咎大自然

Report Highlights

19.3 million people newly displaced by disasters in 2014 

 

Graphics & maps

Protracted displacement

 

Global map


One person per second

 

19.3 million people were displaced by disasters in 2014

 

Global displacement by type of hazard

Global population trends

Eight cases of protracted displacement following disasters

The global scale of displacement caused by disasters

 

Where people were displaced in 2014 by disasters

 

Countries with the highest level of disaster displacement