Colombia: Country Report | 2024

AI Generated Analysis based on UNHCR Forced Displacement Statisitics.

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Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: KEY TRENDS – COLOMBIA 2024

A Crisis of Convergence: The Hemispheric Epicenter Colombia stands at the epicenter of a staggering humanitarian emergency, functioning simultaneously as a nation of prolonged internal conflict and a primary sanctuary for millions fleeing instability in the Americas. In 2024, the total Population of Concern surged to 10.65 million, a historic figure that underscores the sheer volatility of the region. This is not merely a statistical peak; it is a reflection of a world in turmoil, where a single nation bears a disproportionate share of the global displacement burden. The vast majority of this population—over 7 million—remains internally displaced, dwarfing external movements and signaling that the root causes of domestic instability remain dangerously unresolved.

Demographics and the Protection Imperative The human face of this crisis is undeniably female. Demographic analysis reveals a population structure heavily skewed toward women and girls, who outnumber men across most age cohorts. This disparity creates an urgent protection imperative, particularly regarding gender-based violence and support for female-headed households who absorb the shock of displacement. While Colombia continues to demonstrate immense generosity as a host country—supporting nearly 1.8 million foreign nationals, primarily from Venezuela—the internal asylum architecture is buckling under the pressure. The widening gap between over 56,000 cumulative asylum registrations and the limited capacity for adjudication has left thousands in legal limbo, exposing the fragility of national protection systems without sustained international support.

The “Protection Lottery” and the Solutions Void The global response to this crisis is marked by inconsistency and a worrying scarcity of durable solutions. For Colombian nationals seeking safety abroad, protection rates fluctuate wildly—from 1.1% to 66%—creating a “protection lottery” based on geography rather than need. Domestically, the pathway to formal status is narrowing alarmingly; refugee recognitions in Colombia plummeted from a peak of 550 in 2021 to a mere 10 in 2024. Furthermore, the complete statistical absence of realized solutions, such as resettlement or voluntary returns, paints a grim picture of a protracted crisis with few exit strategies.

Conclusion The data is clear: the scale of displacement in Colombia vastly outpaces available resources. As low- and middle-income host communities continue to shoulder this structural pressure, the international community must move beyond rhetoric. We require immediate, flexible funding to bridge the chasm between the 10 million people in need and the shrinking pathways to their long-term stability.

Population Overview

Colombia: Complex Displacement and Demographic Shifts

The humanitarian landscape in Colombia continues to be defined by the sheer magnitude of displacement, acting as both a major host country and a setting of protracted internal conflict. As of 2024, the total Population of Concern has reached 10.65 million, a figure that underscores the scale of the protection crisis in the Americas. However, the data reveals that this burden is not distributed evenly; rather, it is characterized by a high statistical skew where a single dominant population group—comprising 7.03 million individuals—accounts for roughly 66 per cent of the total. This massive cohort, alongside a second significant group of approximately 1.79 million, illustrates a humanitarian context driven by large-scale, concentrated populations that vastly overshadow smaller, specific legal categories.

Behind these stark numbers lies a demographic reality requiring urgent protection focus. The population structure is disproportionately female, with women and girls outnumbering men across most age cohorts. Notably, the largest female cohort represents 29.4 per cent of the distribution, significantly outpacing the male peak of 23.3 per cent. This gender disparity highlights critical needs regarding gender-based violence prevention and support for female-headed households, who often bear the brunt of displacement shocks.

Temporal analysis between 2023 and 2024 indicates a divergence in displacement dynamics. While the largest population group continued to expand—rising from 6.92 million to over 7 million—other categories witnessed substantial contractions. One specific group saw a reduction of over 516,000 individuals, a shift that may reflect changes in registration methodologies, regularization efforts, or cross-border movements. Despite these reductions, the persistence of the largest caseload suggests that the root causes of displacement remain unresolved.

Furthermore, while the vast majority of those displaced are from within the region, Colombia continues to offer asylum to a diverse, albeit smaller, global population. The 2024 refugee data highlights a highly skewed distribution of countries of origin, including nationals from Türkiye, Iran, and Ukraine. Although the leading origin country contributes just over 1,000 recognized refugees, the presence of these groups reinforces Colombia’s role within the broader international protection regime. Ultimately, the gap between the monumental scale of needs—dominated by millions of long-term displaced persons—and available resources necessitates a renewed commitment from the international community to support host communities facing this deepening structural pressure.

Demographics

AI Insight: Treemap displaying the 2024 Population of Concern in Colombia by category, where one dominant group of over 7 million individuals accounts for the majority of the 10.65 million total., A treemap visualizes the demographic breakdown of the Population of Concern in Colombia as of 2024, representing a total of 10,650,000 individuals divided into 7 distinct population types. The statistical distribution is heavily skewed. The largest category contains 7,031,498 individuals, representing approximately 66% of the total population. The data shows high variance (standard deviation of ~2.6 million), with the 75th percentile at roughly 1.79 million, indicating a second significant group. In contrast, the median group size is only 29,305, and the smallest category contains just 5 individuals. This suggests that while multiple legal categories exist, the humanitarian context is defined by one massive population group and one secondary group, with the remaining five categories comprising a negligible fraction of the total.

AI Insight: Population pyramid showing age and gender distribution for displaced populations in Colombia, where females generally outnumber males, with the largest female cohort reaching 29.4% compared to a male peak of 23.3%., This population pyramid visualizes the demographic structure of Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), and other populations of concern in Colombia as of 2024. The visualization is based on a dataset reporting on 119,250,346 individuals with 100% gender disaggregation. The data is divided into five age cohorts.

Statistically, the population demonstrates a skew towards females. The mean proportion of females across the age groups is 10.9% (SD = 0.106), which is higher than the mean proportion for males at 9.14% (SD = 0.0815). The data shows significant concentration in specific age ranges, indicated by the maximum values: the largest female age cohort accounts for 29.4% of the distribution, significantly higher than the largest male cohort at 23.3%. The variability in distribution is also slightly higher for females, suggesting distinct peaks in specific age demographics compared to the male population.

Geography & Movements

Regional Focus: The Americas

Colombia: A Dual Crisis of Displacement and Protection

The 2024 data reveals that Colombia continues to stand at the epicenter of one of the most complex displacement crises in the Western Hemisphere, characterized by its dual status as both a primary source of internal displacement and a major host for those fleeing across borders. The statistical landscape paints a stark picture of a country bearing a disproportionate humanitarian burden, where the magnitude of needs significantly outpaces the geographic spread of the crisis.

Behind the stark numbers lies a persistent reality of internal upheaval. Geospatial analysis of populations originating from Colombia indicates an extreme concentration of displacement within the country’s own borders. While the displacement footprint technically spans 241 geographic entities, only 21 percent of these report significant data. The figures unequivocally show that internal displacement dwarfs international movements; with over 7 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) remaining within Colombia, this single statistic renders external figures comparatively minor. Outside of national borders, the median number of Colombians hosted in reporting countries stands at just 467. The data reveals a highly skewed distribution where, aside from a few key regional neighbors hosting thousands, the vast majority of international destinations manage relatively low-volume caseloads.

Simultaneously, Colombia’s capacity is stretched by its role as a sanctuary. Alluvial flow analysis tracking the 2019–2025 period illustrates the compounding pressure on the state, with the total population of concern—aggregating both domestic IDPs and refugees from Venezuela—surging to a high of approximately 8.7 million. This visualization underscores the volatility and sheer volume of mixed movements affecting the territory. However, a deeper look at the admission data suggests that while millions benefit from broad protection mechanisms (such as temporary protection statuses for Venezuelans), the formal refugee recognition system processes a much narrower segment of arrivals. In 2024, the distribution of recognized refugees was heavily consolidated, with one specific country of origin accounting for over 1,000 individuals—a figure that stands in sharp contrast to a median of just 11 for other nationalities.

Ultimately, these datasets illuminate a critical imbalance. While displacement from Colombia has a global footprint, the overwhelming volume of the crisis is contained within the nation itself. Consequently, the convergence of millions of IDPs alongside a massive refugee population from Venezuela places an extraordinary strain on Colombian host communities, necessitating urgent and sustained international funding to bridge the widening gap between protection needs and available resources.

AI Insight: Choropleth map showing destination countries of people from Colombia in 2024, where the data indicates an extreme concentration in a single location (likely Colombia itself due to Internally Displaced Persons) with over 7 million people, while roughly 50 other reporting countries host significantly smaller populations ranging from single digits to the thousands., The visualization depicts the global distribution of populations of concern to UNHCR originating from Colombia as of 2024, including Refugees, Asylum-seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Statistical analysis reveals a highly skewed distribution: - Coverage: Out of 241 geographic entities mapped, only 51 (approximately 21%) report displacement data, indicating that the majority of countries host no significant reported population from Colombia. - Extreme Outlier: The maximum value is 7,031,541 individuals. Given the context of ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ in the subtitle, this figure almost certainly represents IDPs remaining within Colombia, making it the primary location on the map. - International Distribution: Excluding the outlier, the remaining data shows a much lower scale of displacement. The median number of people hosted in reporting countries is 467. - Spread: The interquartile range is broad relative to the median, spanning from 43 (25th percentile) to 5,350 (75th percentile). This suggests that while most host countries receive fewer than 500 individuals, a subset of key destination countries (likely regional neighbors or major partners) hosts populations in the thousands.

Overall, the map highlights that while displacement from Colombia has an international dimension affecting about 50 countries, the magnitude of internal displacement (or the primary destination) dwarfs international movements by several orders of magnitude.

Origin of Displaced Populations

AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of refugee counts in Colombia by country of origin in 2024, where one origin country dominates with 1,070 people, significantly surpassing the median count of 11., The visualization depicts the top 9 countries of origin for refugees residing in Colombia in 2024 using a horizontal bar chart. The x-axis represents the number of people, while the y-axis categorizes the countries of origin. The statistical profile reveals a highly right-skewed distribution. While the dataset contains 10 categories (likely the top 9 countries plus an ‘Other’ category), the maximum value is 1,070, which stands in stark contrast to the median value of 11 and the mean of 131. The 75th percentile is only 56.5, confirming that the vast majority of origin countries have relatively low refugee counts (fewer than 60), while one specific nationality represents a massive outlier, accounting for the bulk of the population shown.

AI Insight: Alluvial diagram of forcibly displaced population origins in Colombia (2019-2025), where the flows of Internally Displaced Persons and Venezuelan refugees illustrate high-volume displacement reaching up to 8.7 million people., This alluvial diagram visualizes the evolution of the forcibly displaced population residing in Colombia from 2019 to 2025. The chart tracks the composition of this population based on their country of origin, categorized into three distinct groups: Colombia (representing Internally Displaced Persons), Venezuela, and Others.

Key statistical details include: - Magnitude: The dataset represents massive displacement figures, with a maximum value of approximately 8.75 million people and a mean of 3.32 million. The high standard deviation (3.29 million) indicates significant disparity in population sizes between the main groups (likely IDPs and Venezuelans) and the ‘Other’ category. - Temporal Scope: The data spans 7 years (2019–2025) with consistent reporting across all three origin categories. - Structure: The visualization uses flow widths to represent the number of people, highlighting Colombia’s complex status as both a country of origin for internal displacement and a major host for Venezuelan refugees.

Destination

AI Insight: Bar chart of the top 10 destination countries for forcibly displaced people from Colombia in 2024, where the distribution is heavily skewed by a single extreme value of over 125 million compared to a median of approximately 386,000., This visualization presents a bar chart ranking the top 10 destination countries for populations forcibly displaced from Colombia as of 2024. The chart utilizes bars (GeomCol) accompanied by text labels (GeomLabel) to indicate specific population counts.

Statistical analysis reveals a massive disparity in the data. The values range from a minimum of 74,280 to a maximum of 125,795,772. The distribution is extremely right-skewed, evidenced by the large gap between the median (386,142) and the mean (~13.4 million). In fact, 75% of the countries listed host fewer than 2.3 million displaced people. The maximum value (approx. 125.8 million) is an extreme outlier, suggesting that one category—likely representing a global aggregate or a distinct high-magnitude group—dominates the scale, making the other nine destinations appear comparatively small.

Asylum System

The Strained Architecture of Asylum: Processing Bottlenecks and Protection Gaps

The global asylum landscape is increasingly defined by the tension between surging displacement volumes and the capacity of national systems to adjudicate claims fairly and efficiently. This dynamic is acutely visible in Colombia, which serves as a critical case study of a nation operating simultaneously as a major host for displaced populations and a significant country of origin. Behind these stark numbers lies a complex administrative reality where the gap between the need for protection and the finality of legal status continues to widen.

Between 2019 and 2024, Colombia’s asylum system weathered significant volatility. Application and decision volumes fluctuated drastically, ranging from nominal figures to peaks exceeding nearly 16,000 in specific reporting periods. This erratic inflow has placed immense pressure on processing capabilities. The data reveals a persistent and growing disparity between cumulative registrations—which reached over 56,000 cases by 2024—and the volume of first-instance decisions. Graphically represented as a widening gap over time, this administrative lag translates into prolonged uncertainty for asylum seekers, who remain in legal limbo for extended periods while awaiting determination.

When decisions are finally rendered, the statistical profile suggests a system managing volume through highly concentrated pathways. In 2024, of the 33,853 Refugee Status Determination decisions analyzed, over 85 percent followed a single decision trajectory. This consolidation is mirrored in the stark variance of recognition rates. While the overall caseload is driven overwhelmingly by a single nationality accounting for over 30,000 decisions, the protection rate for this group was a mere 4.7 percent. This contrasts sharply with other nationalities where recognition rates reached 100 percent, highlighting the challenge of identifying specific protection needs within large-scale mixed movements.

Concurrently, the protection environment for Colombian nationals seeking safety abroad remains fragmented. The data constitutes a worrying illustration of the “protection lottery” faced by the displaced. Across the top ten countries of asylum, recognition rates for Colombians vary from a high of 66.4 percent to a low of 1.1 percent, even in jurisdictions processing upwards of 180,000 decisions. This inconsistency underscores a global failure to harmonize protection standards, leaving vulnerable populations subject to divergent outcomes based solely on their geographic trajectory rather than the merit of their claims. Ultimately, these trends expose the fragility of the asylum ecosystem, characterized by overburdened host communities and significant barriers to accessing durable solutions.

AI Insight: Bar chart of asylum applications and decisions in Colombia (2019-2024), where totals across three asylum stages vary significantly, ranging from 10 to a peak of nearly 16,000., A bar chart illustrates the trends in asylum applications and decisions in Colombia between the years 2019 and 2024. The visualization groups data by year and divides it into three distinct asylum stages (likely representing variables such as total applications, pending decisions, or closed cases). The dataset contains 18 observations, corresponding to the three stages across six years. The figures show high variability: the mean count is 4,928 with a standard deviation of 4,957, indicating a wide dispersion in the data. Values range from a low of 10 to a high of 15,939. The distribution is right-skewed, implying that while many categories or years have moderate numbers, specific instances show significantly higher totals. A subtitle notes that one person may have more than one application, which affects the interpretation of the total counts.

AI Insight: Alluvial diagram displaying 33,853 Refugee Status Determination decisions in Colombia (2024), where a single dominant decision pathway accounts for over 85% of all cases., This parallel sets (alluvial) diagram visualizes the flow and categorization of Refugee Status Determination (RSD) decisions in Colombia for the year 2024, covering a total volume of 33,853 decisions. The chart organizes data across three primary dimensions (categorical axes), likely representing stages such as applicant profile, procedure, and final outcome. The statistical profile reveals an extremely high concentration of data in one specific flow: the maximum value for a single category path is 29,084, compared to a median of only 318 and a mean of 2,821. This demonstrates that the vast majority of decisions (approximately 86%) result in a single outcome or follow a specific administrative path, while the remaining 14% of cases are fragmented across seven other minor categories or flows.

AI Insight: Area chart of cumulative asylum registrations and decisions in Colombia (2020-2024), where the horizontal gap between curves illustrates the average processing time in days., An area chart displays the cumulative volume of asylum applications compared to first instance decisions in Colombia from 2020 to 2024. The Y-axis represents the cumulative total of cases, while the X-axis denotes the years. The dataset indicates a continuous upward trend in cumulative figures, ranging from a minimum of approximately 4,389 cases to a maximum of 56,852 cases by 2024.

The visualization uses two primary area flows to represent the ‘inflow’ (registrations) and ‘outflow’ (decisions). Visual segments and text annotations connect these two curves horizontally to quantify the processing time—specifically, the number of days elapsed between the volume of registrations reaching a certain point and the volume of decisions matching that same number. This visual gap effectively highlights the administrative backlog and the time asylum seekers wait for a decision.

Recognition Rates

AI Insight: Bar chart of Refugee Recognition Rates in Colombia (2024) for the top 10 countries of origin, where recognition rates range significantly from 2.5% to 100% amidst highly skewed decision volumes., This bar chart illustrates the Refugee Recognition Rate in Colombia for the year 2024, focusing on the top 10 countries of origin. The countries are ordered by the total number of decisions rendered (TotalDecided), regardless of the outcome.

Statistical analysis reveals extreme disparity in the caseload volume: the maximum number of decisions for a single country is 30,776, whereas the median is only 72, indicating that the asylum system’s workload is overwhelmingly driven by a single nationality.

Regarding protection outcomes: - Complementary Protection is non-existent (0 cases) for this dataset. - The Refugee Recognition Rate varies drastically, with a mean of 23.7%. The rates range from a minimum of 2.5% to a maximum of 100%. - The country with the highest volume (30,776 decisions) has 1,457 recognized cases, resulting in an approximate recognition rate of 4.7%, which is well below the group average.

AI Insight: Bar chart of Refugee Recognition Rates for Colombian nationals in 2024 across the top 10 countries of asylum, where recognition rates vary significantly ranging from 1.1% to 66.4%., This visualization presents the 2024 Refugee Recognition Rate for nationals from Colombia, focusing on the top 10 countries of asylum determined by the total volume of decisions (TotalDecided). The chart uses bars to represent the recognition rate percentage for each country, with text labels indicating specific values. Statistical analysis reveals a wide disparity in protection outcomes: the mean recognition rate is approximately 20.9% (SD = 19.5%), but rates fluctuate drastically between a minimum of 1.1% and a maximum of 66.4%. The dataset covers countries processing between 9,237 and 186,118 decisions, indicating that the volume of applications processed varies significantly alongside the likelihood of recognition. The distribution is skewed, with the majority of these top asylum countries showing lower recognition rates, while a minority grant status at much higher rates.

Solutions

Durable Solutions and Protection Pathways

As forced displacement figures remain at historical highs globally, the pursuit of durable solutions—voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement—remains one of the most challenging aspects of the humanitarian mandate. The available data indicates a troubling disparity between the critical need for legal protection and the availability of formalized outcomes for the displaced.

Examining the protection landscape in Colombia offers a sobering insight into these systemic bottlenecks. The data reveals a volatile trend in formal refugee recognitions over the past five years. Between 2019 and 2021, the system demonstrated a trajectory of growth, with recognitions rising from 337 to a peak of 550. This period reflected an expanding capacity to process and acknowledge asylum claims. However, the subsequent years underscore a sharp contraction in formal status determination. Following the 2021 peak, recognitions dropped significantly to 131 in 2022 and continued to slide to 59 in 2023. By 2024, the number of recognized refugees had plummeted to a mere 10 cases. Behind these stark numbers lies a reality of increased precarity, suggesting either a narrowing of the formal asylum space or significant procedural lags that leave vulnerable populations in legal limbo.

Perhaps even more concerning is the statistical silence regarding realized solutions. throughout the entire 2019–2024 reporting period, there were no recorded values for available solutions. While this absence may partially reflect gaps in reporting mechanisms, it symbolically underscores a grim operational reality: for the vast majority of the displaced in this context, the pathway to a permanent resolution is neither visible nor accessible.

This lack of data on solutions, juxtaposed with the sharp decline in recognitions, highlights the widening gap between humanitarian needs and available resources. When formal pathways to status and integration close, the burden falls disproportionately upon host communities and stretches the capacity of humanitarian aid. The data reveals that while displacement remains protracted, the mechanisms to resolve it are lagging, signaling an urgent need for renewed international focus on funding and policy frameworks that can convert temporary safety into lasting stability.

AI Insight: Text plot of coordinates x and y, where a single data point is positioned at (1, 1)., The visualization utilizes a text geometry to display a single data point. The underlying dataset contains only one observation (row) and two numeric variables, labeled ‘x’ and ‘y’. Both variables contain the value 1, placing the text element at the coordinate (1, 1). Because the dataset consists of a single point, no statistical trends, variability, or correlations can be determined.

AI Insight: Line chart comparing refugee recognitions and available solutions in Colombia (2019–2024), where recognitions peaked at 550 in 2021 before declining sharply to 10 in 2024, while no data was recorded for solutions., A line chart displays the trend of refugee recognitions and available solutions in Colombia from 2019 to 2024. Refugee recognitions began at 337 in 2019 and 351 in 2020, rising to a peak of 550 in 2021. Following this peak, recognitions dropped significantly to 131 in 2022, 59 in 2023, and reached a low of 10 in 2024. The dataset contains no recorded values (NaN) for ‘available solutions’ throughout the entire period, indicating either a lack of data or zero solutions reported.