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Disasters triggered nearly 265 million forced movements over the past decade
Disasters triggered 264.8 million forced movements of people across 210 countries and territories between 2015 and 2024, according to a new report released today by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
GENEVA, Switzerland – Disasters triggered 264.8 million forced movements of people across 210 countries and territories between 2015 and 2024, according to a new report released today by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). Storms and floods triggered 89 per cent of these movements, with earthquakes, droughts and wildfires also forcing millions more.
In 2024 alone, disasters forced people to flee their homes nearly 45.8 million times, the highest annual figure on record and twice the annual average of the past decade. At the end of the year, 9.8 million people were living in internal displacement as a result of disasters.
“Disaster displacement is not a future problem. It’s happening now, it’s happening more often, and it can happen anywhere, although it is hitting the poorest the hardest,” said Alexandra Bilak, IDMC director. “But disaster displacement is not inevitable. With better data, targeted policies and long-term investments, governments can reduce the risk and prevent the worst impacts.”
While climate change is making extreme weather events such as floods and storms more frequent and intense, these hazards alone do not force people to flee. Lack of preparedness, inadequate infrastructure and high exposure to risks, especially in low- or lower-middle-income countries, increase the likelihood that disasters will force people from their homes.
Disaster displacement occurs in nearly every country, but its impacts are most severe in the same places where people and infrastructure are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Over 60 per cent of the disaster displacements recorded in 2024 occurred in low- or lower middle-income countries or territories.
Displacement risk is likely to grow. Climate risk modelling suggests that under a pessimistic warming scenario, 100 million people globally are at risk of internal displacement caused by disasters in any given year in the future. Even under an optimistic warming scenario, this figure could reach 55 million annually.
Some of the increase in the number of disaster displacements is due to improved data collection, but as data gaps persist, many disaster displacements still go unrecorded. Governments can use data to identify people at risk of being displaced, prioritise resources and develop effective disaster risk reduction and management plans.
“As global temperatures rise, even more people are at risk,” said Ms. Bilak. “Our window to act is closing. It’s time to turn what we’ve learned from the data into political solutions and financial commitments.”
Accelerating action to reduce disaster risk
With only five years left to meet the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, governments and partners must take coordinated action across humanitarian, development and climate sectors. Disaster displacement must be recognized not just as a humanitarian issue, but a development and governance challenge that requires long-term investments.
To prevent, respond to and resolve disaster displacement, governments must integrate internal displacement into national development, climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction plans. Strengthening early warning systems, investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and using data and risk analysis to design targeted policies that protect people most at risk and support lasting solutions for internally displaced people are critical.
ENDS
Notes to editors
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How to read our data
Internal displacement refers to the forced movement of people within the country they live in.
The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) is a snapshot of the total number of people living in internal displacement at a specific point in time in a specific location. For this report, our Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) and the Global Internal Displacement Database (GIDD), we make these snapshots as of the end of each year.
The number of internal displacements counts each new forced movement of a person within the borders of the country of their habitual residence recorded during the year. The same person or people can be displaced several times over a given period of time. We count each time a person is forced to move as an internal displacement. We also refer to these as movements.
Learn more in our quick guide on how to read our data.
About IDMC
IDMC is the world's leading source of data and analysis on internal displacement. We provide high-quality data, analysis and expertise on internal displacement to inform policy and operational decisions that can improve the lives of internally displaced people (IDPs) worldwide and reduce the risk of future displacement. IDMC was established in 1998 and is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
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