Côte d’Ivoire: Country Report | 2024
AI Generated Analysis based on UNHCR Forced Displacement Statisitics.
Executive Summary
TO: Executive Committee, Member States, Key Donors & Partners FROM: The Office of the High Commissioner SUBJECT: Key Trends in Forced Displacement: Côte d’Ivoire (2024)
Executive Summary: A Nation at a Crossroads of Displacement
Côte d’Ivoire presents a stark and complex picture of forced displacement, a nation simultaneously grappling with its own protracted internal crisis while becoming a primary haven for one of Africa’s fastest-growing refugee emergencies. With nearly one million people of concern within its borders, the humanitarian landscape is defined by this dual reality. The overwhelming majority—over 955,000 individuals—are internally displaced Ivorians, a population that continues to grow, signaling persistent instability. At the same time, an unprecedented influx of refugees fleeing violence in Burkina Faso is fundamentally reshaping the country’s protection needs and placing immense strain on its resources.
This surge has severely tested the national asylum system. While Ivorian authorities have responded by granting group-based protection to thousands, this has created a two-tier reality. Those outside this group-based recognition face a system with a backlog of cases, processing times stretching over two years, and exceptionally low individual recognition rates. This illustrates the immense pressure on host countries at the forefront of regional crises. Furthermore, the responsibility for displaced Ivorians abroad remains unequally shared, with a handful of neighbouring countries hosting the vast majority, underscoring the need for more predictable and equitable international support.
The paradox of this situation is most visible in the search for solutions. While a landmark voluntary repatriation program recently enabled over 11,000 Ivorians to return home—a significant achievement—a major solutions gap has emerged for refugees hosted within Côte d’Ivoire. Despite thousands of new refugees being recognized in recent years, the number of durable solutions, such as resettlement or local integration, remains negligible. This widening chasm between rising protection needs and available long-term pathways demands urgent attention from the international community to support Côte d’Ivoire in its role as a critical pillar of stability in a volatile region.
Population Overview
Global Overview: Key Displacement Situations
Cote d’Ivoire: A Crisis of Internal Displacement
As of 2024, the humanitarian landscape in Cote d’Ivoire is shaped by the needs of approximately 1 million people of concern to UNHCR. The data reveals a situation overwhelmingly defined by internal displacement, which accounts for over 93 per cent of this population. The scale of this internal crisis, which peaked at over 955,000 individuals in recent years, dwarfs all other categories of forced displacement in the country, such as refugees, asylum-seekers, and returnees.
This protracted situation is far from static. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) grew by a further 29,339, a 4 per cent rise that underscores the ongoing drivers of displacement and insecurity within the country’s borders. This increase was the most significant change across all population groups, cementing internal displacement as the primary and most urgent challenge for the humanitarian community.
Behind these stark numbers lies a population with distinct demographic characteristics that must inform any effective protection and solutions strategy. The displaced population is composed primarily of working-age adults (18-59 years), with women and girls constituting a slight majority at over 53 per cent. This structure points to critical needs related to livelihoods, protection programming, and targeted support for female-headed households.
While the focus remains on the vast IDP population, Cote d’Ivoire also hosts smaller populations of refugees and asylum-seekers. The refugee population, though modest in size, is itself concentrated, with nearly half of all recognized refugees originating from a single neighbouring country. This highlights that even within a context dominated by one major crisis, diverse and specific protection needs persist, requiring a comprehensive and tailored response.
Demographics
AI Insight: A treemap of the population of concern in Cote d’Ivoire, where ‘Others of concern’ constitute the vast majority of the total 1 million individuals., This treemap visualizes the composition of approximately 1 million individuals classified as a ‘population of concern’ in Cote d’Ivoire as of 2024. The chart is divided into seven rectangles, each representing a different population type, with the area of each rectangle being proportional to its population size.
A statistical analysis reveals a highly concentrated distribution. One single category overwhelmingly dominates the dataset, accounting for 930,978 individuals, which is over 93% of the total population of concern. In contrast, the other six categories are significantly smaller. The median population size across the categories is just 93 people, and 75% of the categories have populations of 34,588 or fewer. This stark difference between the maximum value and the other percentiles highlights that the population of concern in the country is concentrated within one primary group.
The dataset also contains columns for ‘returned_refugees’ and ‘returned_idps’, with constant values of 8 and 0 respectively across all categories. This suggests these figures are likely aggregate totals that have not been disaggregated by the primary population types shown in the treemap.
AI Insight: A population pyramid of populations of concern in Cote d’Ivoire by age group and gender, where the largest cohort is the 18-59 age group, and the female population is slightly larger than the male population., This population pyramid visualizes the age and gender distribution of 9,933,621 individuals of concern in Cote d’Ivoire as of 2024. The population includes refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, and other persons of concern. The data is fully disaggregated by gender, showing females on one side and males on the other, across five standard age groups.
Overall, there is a gender imbalance, with females constituting approximately 53.5% of the total population and males 46.5%. The pyramid’s shape is characterized by a wide base in the adult age bracket rather than the youngest age groups.
Statistical Breakdown: - 18-59 years: This is the largest cohort, representing a significant portion of the total population. There is a notable disparity within this group: females aged 18-59 account for 25.3% of the total population, while males in the same age range account for 16.4%. - Youth Population (0-17 years): Children and adolescents form a substantial part of the population, but in smaller proportions compared to the primary adult group. - Elderly Population (60+ years): This is the smallest cohort. The lowest recorded proportions are for this group, with females at 1.7% and males at 2.3% of the total population.
The demographic structure, with its large working-age adult population and a higher proportion of females, suggests specific needs related to livelihoods, protection, and family support programs.
Trends Over Time
AI Insight: Column chart of population types in Cote d’Ivoire from 2019 to 2024, where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) represent the vast majority of the population of concern, peaking at over 955,000., This column chart presents a breakdown of UNHCR’s populations of concern in Cote d’Ivoire, measured in thousands, annually from 2019 to 2024. The data is disaggregated into six categories: Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Returned IDPs, Refugees, Returned Refugees, Asylum-seekers, and Others of Concern.
A statistical analysis reveals a highly skewed distribution dominated by the IDP population. The maximum value recorded for any single population group is 955,399, which corresponds to IDPs, highlighting internal displacement as the primary humanitarian issue in the country during this period. In contrast, other population groups are orders of magnitude smaller. For example, the number of returned refugees reaches a maximum of 37 people, while returned IDPs show a significant but isolated event, peaking at 11,338 people in one year (the median for this category is zero). The figures for refugees, asylum-seekers, and others of concern remain consistently low in comparison to the IDP figures. This visualization underscores a situation primarily characterized by internal displacement dynamics rather than cross-border movements.
AI Insight: Bar chart of population group changes in Cote d’Ivoire from 2023 to 2024, where the number of Internally displaced persons increased by 29,339, representing the most significant change., The bar chart, titled ‘Cote d’Ivoire: Increases and Decreases in Population Groups | 2023-2024’, visualizes the change in the number of people for six distinct population groups of concern between 2023 and 2024. For each population group, a horizontal bar indicates the absolute increase or decrease, with text labels providing both the exact number and the percentage change.
Overall, the population of concern in Cote d’Ivoire experienced a net increase, driven primarily by a substantial rise in the number of Internally displaced persons.
Population Groups with an Increase: - Internally displaced persons (IDPs): The largest change observed, with an increase of 29,339 people (+4%). - Others of concern: Increased by 5,069 people (+3%). - Refugees: Increased by 1,235 people (+1%).
Population Groups with a Decrease: - Asylum-seekers: Decreased by 1,192 people (-2%). - Returnees: Decreased by 197 people (-1%). - Stateless persons: Decreased by 23 people (-0.5%).
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of the top 9 countries of origin for refugees in Cote d’Ivoire in 2024, where the leading country accounts for 1,156 people, significantly more than any other origin., This horizontal bar chart details the origins of 2,380 refugees in Cote d’Ivoire for the year 2024, broken down by the top nine countries and an ‘Others’ category. The vertical axis lists the countries of origin, while the horizontal axis represents the number of people.
The data shows a highly right-skewed distribution. The largest single group of refugees comes from one country, totaling 1,156 individuals, which constitutes nearly half of the refugee population shown. The remaining origin countries contribute much smaller numbers, with a median of 98.5 people per group. The counts for the origin groups range from a minimum of 19 to the maximum of 1,156. This visualization indicates that while there is one predominant nationality among refugees, there are also several smaller, distinct populations requiring tailored support.
Geography & Movements
Geography & Movements
The displacement landscape related to Côte d’Ivoire presents a complex, dual narrative, reflecting its evolving role as both a significant host country and a country of origin for refugees and asylum-seekers. The most striking recent development is the dramatic surge in forced displacement into Côte d’Ivoire, overwhelmingly driven by the escalating security and humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
The data reveals an exponential growth in arrivals from the central Sahel. While populations of stateless persons and other groups within Côte d’Ivoire have remained relatively stable, the influx of Burkinabe nationals has reshaped the country’s protection environment, growing to become the vast majority of all forcibly displaced persons hosted in the country by 2025. This influx has resulted in a refugee and asylum-seeker population characterized by a significant concentration of people from this single country of origin, underscoring the need for a targeted protection response tailored to the specific needs of this large cohort.
Simultaneously, a significant number of Ivorian nationals remain forcibly displaced, a legacy of the country’s own past instability. The data on their destinations reveals a highly concentrated pattern of displacement. While the largest population of concern remains within Côte d’Ivoire’s own borders as internally displaced persons, those who have sought refuge externally are sheltered in a small number of countries. Behind these stark numbers lies a disproportionate sharing of responsibility; while 65 countries host Ivorians, the vast majority are located in just a few key host nations, often within the immediate region. Three-quarters of host nations shelter relatively small numbers, with the median figure being just 38 individuals per country.
This dual reality—a nation grappling with its own protracted displacement situations while becoming a primary haven for one of the world’s fastest-growing new displacement crises—illustrates the interconnected and volatile nature of forced displacement across West and Central Africa.
AI Insight: Choropleth map of destination countries for displaced people from Cote d’Ivoire, where the population is heavily concentrated in a few nations, with the top host country having over 7,400 individuals., This choropleth map displays the global distribution of displaced populations from Cote d’Ivoire as of 2024, including refugees, asylum-seekers, and other persons of concern. The data reveals a highly concentrated pattern of displacement. Out of 241 countries and territories in the dataset, 65 have reported hosting displaced people from Cote d’Ivoire. The number of individuals per host country ranges from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 7,453. The distribution is strongly right-skewed, with a median of 38 people per country, which is significantly lower than the mean of 465. This disparity, coupled with a high standard deviation of 1,300, highlights the influence of a few countries hosting large populations. The 75th percentile is 109, indicating that three-quarters of the host nations shelter relatively small numbers of Ivorian displaced persons. The primary insight is the disproportionate concentration of this population in a small number of destination countries. Note that data is unavailable for 176 countries, which are not represented in the visualization’s color scale.
Origin of Displaced Populations
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of the top 9 countries of origin for refugees in Cote d’Ivoire in 2024, where the distribution is highly skewed with one country accounting for 1,156 people, significantly more than any other., This horizontal bar chart presents the number of refugees in Cote d’Ivoire in 2024, disaggregated by their top nine countries of origin, plus an ‘Others’ category. The y-axis lists the countries, and the x-axis measures the number of people. The data reveals a significant concentration of refugees from one primary country of origin, which accounts for a population of 1,156. This figure is a notable outlier, as the mean population across all ten groups is 238, while the median is just 99. This disparity between the mean and median highlights the strong right-skew in the data. The refugee populations from the other countries are substantially smaller, ranging from 19 to 154 people. This distribution pattern underscores the specific protection and assistance needs related to a single, large refugee cohort within the broader refugee population in Cote d’Ivoire.
AI Insight: Alluvial chart of the forcibly displaced population in Cote d’Ivoire by origin from 2019 to 2025, where the population from Burkina Faso significantly increases to become the vast majority of the total by 2025., This alluvial chart illustrates the changing composition of the forcibly displaced population in Cote d’Ivoire from 2019 to 2025, categorized by origin: Burkina Faso, Stateless persons, and ‘Other’. The vertical axis represents the number of people in thousands.
The most prominent trend is a dramatic increase in the total displaced population, driven almost entirely by a surge in arrivals from Burkina Faso. While the populations of Stateless persons and those from ‘Other’ origins remain relatively small and stable throughout the period, the number of people from Burkina Faso grows exponentially, particularly in the later years.
Statistically, the dataset shows values ranging from just 5 people to a maximum of 955,399. The high mean (338,385) and standard deviation (451,793), compared to a much lower median (22,108), confirm that a few data points representing the Burkinabe population in later years are extremely high. This visualizes the escalating impact of the security and humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, which has led to significant cross-border displacement into Cote d’Ivoire.
Destination
AI Insight: Bar chart of the top 10 destination countries for forcibly displaced people from Cote d’Ivoire, where one destination country hosts a significantly larger population than all others., This vertical bar chart displays the top 10 destination countries for people forcibly displaced from Cote d’Ivoire as of 2024. The data reveals a highly skewed distribution among the ten countries. The number of displaced individuals ranges from a minimum of 33,640 to an extreme maximum of 3,884,998. The median number of displaced people is 102,267, which is a more representative figure for a typical destination in this group than the mean of 512,937. The mean is heavily inflated by the top destination country, which hosts over 24 times more people than the country at the 75th percentile (161,935). This strong positive skew indicates that while there are several host countries, one country bears a disproportionately large responsibility for hosting Ivorian displaced populations.
Asylum System
Asylum Systems Under Pressure
The capacity of national asylum systems to provide timely and fair protection was severely tested in 2024, with Côte d’Ivoire emerging as a prominent example of a country facing an extraordinary surge in claims. The data reveals an unprecedented increase in asylum-related activities, straining the country’s processing and reception infrastructure. Behind these stark numbers lies a system adapting to a significant influx of people seeking safety, forcing a reliance on different adjudication methodologies.
In response, Ivorian authorities rendered 18,740 decisions during the year. The primary mechanism for managing the caseload was through group-based prima facie recognition, which accounted for 7,523 positive decisions and provided a crucial pathway to protection for a large cohort. This contrasts sharply with outcomes from individual Refugee Status Determination (RSD), where only 65 individuals were granted refugee status out of 4,598 cases that underwent a full assessment, a recognition rate of just 1.4 per cent. A further 6,554 cases were ‘otherwise closed’, often due to applicants moving on or losing contact with authorities.
Despite these efforts, the pace of new arrivals continued to outstrip decision-making capacity. This has led to a progressively widening gap between cumulative applications and decisions, culminating in a significant backlog. Consequently, the average processing time for an asylum claim has extended to a staggering 847 days, leaving many in a state of prolonged uncertainty. The dual-track approach to processing is reflected in the vastly different outcomes for asylum-seekers based on their country of origin, with recognition rates for the largest caseloads varying from nearly 100 per cent for nationalities assessed on a group basis to less than 2 per cent for others undergoing individual review.
This complex protection landscape is further illustrated by the situation of Ivorian nationals seeking asylum abroad. In the ten countries hosting the largest number of Ivorian asylum-seekers, recognition rates ranged widely from under 1 per cent to 37 per cent, underscoring the lack of uniformity in how protection needs are assessed globally.
AI Insight: Bar chart of asylum applications and decisions in Cote d’Ivoire from 2019 to 2024, detailing the annual number of cases at different stages of the asylum process., This bar chart presents statistics on asylum applications and decisions in Cote d’Ivoire for the period 2019 to 2024. The data is categorized by year and by the stage of the asylum process (‘AsylumStage’).
A statistical analysis of the underlying data, which comprises 21 observations, reveals significant variability in the number of cases (‘Total’). The annual figures range from 0 to a maximum of 33,914. The distribution is highly right-skewed, as evidenced by the large difference between the mean (3,628) and the median (138). This indicates that while the number of cases in most year/stage combinations is relatively low (75% of observations are below 2,170), there was at least one period with an exceptionally high volume of asylum-related activity. It is important to note, as mentioned in the chart’s subtitle, that under certain circumstances, one individual may be associated with more than one application, which could affect the total counts.
AI Insight: Parallel sets plot of Refugee Status Determination decisions in Cote d’Ivoire, where of the 18,740 decisions in 2024, the majority were either recognized on a prima facie basis (7,523) or otherwise closed (6,554)., This parallel sets plot illustrates the outcomes of 18,740 Refugee Status Determination (RSD) decisions recorded in Cote d’Ivoire during 2024. The chart visualizes the flow of cases through different stages and decision types, with the width of each flow proportional to the number of individuals.
The initial pool of 18,740 decisions is broken down into three main streams: - Prima Facie Recognition: The largest group, comprising 7,523 individuals, were recognized on a prima facie basis. This is a group-based determination where refugee status is recognized without individual interviews. - Otherwise Closed: 6,554 cases were closed for reasons other than a decision on the merits (e.g., the applicant could not be traced, or the application was withdrawn). - Individual Decisions: 4,598 cases underwent a full individual RSD process.
The 4,598 cases decided on an individual basis resulted in the following outcomes: - Total Rejected: 3,923 cases (85.3% of individual decisions). - Otherwise Closed: 610 cases (13.3% of individual decisions). - Refugee Status: 65 cases (1.4% of individual decisions).
In summary, while a significant number of positive decisions were made, they were overwhelmingly on a prima facie basis. For cases that underwent individual assessment, the recognition rate was very low, with the vast majority being either rejected or closed.
AI Insight: Area chart of cumulative asylum applications versus decisions in Cote d’Ivoire from 2020 to 2024, where the growing gap between applications and decisions signifies a widening backlog and an increase in average case processing time to 847 days., This area chart illustrates the trend in asylum case processing in Cote d’Ivoire between 2020 and 2024. The horizontal x-axis represents the years, and the vertical y-axis shows the cumulative total of cases.
Two primary data series are plotted: the top line represents the cumulative number of asylum applications received, while the bottom line shows the cumulative number of first instance decisions made. The shaded area between these two lines visually represents the volume of pending cases, or the backlog.
A key observation is the progressive widening of this gap over the years. While both applications and decisions have increased, the rate of new applications has consistently outpaced the rate of decisions. This indicates a growing pressure on the asylum processing system. By 2024, this backlog has resulted in an average processing time of 847 days from registration to decision, a specific data point highlighted on the chart to quantify the delay asylum-seekers face.
Recognition Rates
AI Insight: A bar chart of the Refugee Recognition Rate by country of origin in Cote d’Ivoire for 2024, where rates vary significantly from nearly 100% for one country to less than 2% for another., This bar chart displays the 2024 refugee recognition rates in Cote d’Ivoire for asylum seekers from the top 10 countries of origin, ranked by the total number of decisions made. The analysis reveals a wide disparity in outcomes. The average recognition rate across these ten nationalities is 39.5%, with a median of 29.1%, indicating that a few countries with high rates skew the average upwards. The rates span a dramatic range, with the highest being 99.8% and the lowest just 1.8%. The chart is ordered by the volume of asylum claims processed, not by the recognition rate itself. The total number of decisions per country varies greatly, from a minimum of 163 to a maximum of 9,787. This ordering highlights the outcomes for the largest applicant groups, irrespective of their recognition probability.
AI Insight: Bar chart of the 2024 Refugee Recognition Rate for nationals from Cote d’Ivoire in the top 10 countries of asylum by decision volume, where recognition rates range widely from under 1% to 37%., This vertical bar chart presents the 2024 Refugee Recognition Rate for asylum seekers from Cote d’Ivoire, focusing on the ten countries of asylum that issued the most decisions. The chart is ordered by the total number of decisions, not the recognition rate itself.
Statistically, the data covers 222,940 total decisions across these ten countries. The average Refugee Recognition Rate (RRR), which refers to the granting of formal refugee status, is 14.0%. There is significant variation among countries, with rates ranging from a low of 0.85% to a high of 37.0%. The median RRR is 12.2%, indicating that half of these major asylum countries have a rate below this value.
The Total Recognition Rate, which includes both refugee status and complementary forms of protection, has a higher average of 26.7% and a wider range, from 0.95% to 85.7%. This suggests that in some countries, other protection statuses are more commonly granted to Ivorian nationals than formal refugee status. The ordering by decision volume highlights the protection landscape in the countries handling the largest caseloads of Ivorian asylum seekers.
Solutions
Solutions
The path towards durable solutions for the world’s forcibly displaced is often complex and non-linear, with progress in resolving one crisis sometimes coinciding with new challenges emerging elsewhere. The situation related to Côte d’Ivoire provides a compelling illustration of this dual reality.
The data reveals a significant, albeit concentrated, success story in finding solutions for displaced Ivorians. In 2020 alone, a remarkable 11,338 durable solutions were achieved, primarily through voluntary repatriation. This figure stands in stark contrast to the negligible numbers recorded in the preceding and subsequent years, where solutions averaged in the single digits. This exceptional event points to a successful, large-scale programme that enabled thousands to end their displacement, representing a beacon of hope and a testament to collaborative efforts.
However, behind this positive development, a different story was unfolding for refugees hosted within Côte d’Ivoire itself. Analysis of refugee recognitions versus available solutions paints a more sobering picture of a growing protection gap. A dramatic surge in new refugee recognitions occurred in 2021, with 2,170 individuals granted status, likely linked to instability in the sub-region. Yet, only 17 durable solutions were recorded for refugees in the country that same year.
This disparity underscores a persistent and widening gap between the number of people in need of international protection within Côte d’Ivoire and the availability of long-term pathways to stability, such as local integration or resettlement. The case of Côte d’Ivoire poignantly illustrates the dual role many nations play as both countries of origin seeing their own displacement situations resolved, and as host countries grappling with new and protracted refugee crises. It reinforces the critical need for sustained international investment in solutions—not only to conclude historic crises but also to address the pressing needs of new refugee populations.
AI Insight: Column chart of durable solutions for forcibly displaced people from Cote d’Ivoire by year, where there is an exceptional spike in the number of solutions in 2020 compared to negligible numbers in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2024., This column chart displays the annual trends in durable solutions for forcibly displaced people originating from Cote d’Ivoire between 2019 and 2024. The data reveals a dramatic and singular event in 2020. In that year, the average number of solutions recorded was 2,845, with a peak value reaching 11,338. This is a stark contrast to the other years presented, where the number of solutions was extremely low. For comparison, the mean values were 2.5 in 2019, 4.25 in 2021, 3.25 in 2022, and 2 in 2024. The data strongly indicates that a major repatriation, resettlement, or integration program occurred in 2020, while solutions in the surrounding years were minimal. The absence of data for 2023 is noted.
