Mali: Country Report | 2024
AI Generated Analysis based on UNHCR Forced Displacement Statisitics.
Executive Summary
Key Trends: Mali and the Central Sahel Displacement Crisis
A deepening crisis of internal displacement now defines the humanitarian emergency in Mali, creating a landscape of unprecedented need and regional instability. The number of people requiring our protection has swelled to nearly 500,000, driven by an alarming surge in internal conflict. The most critical development is the 19 per cent increase in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in early 2024 alone, who now constitute nearly three-quarters of the entire displaced population. Behind this number is a story of acute vulnerability, with women and children disproportionately affected, underscoring the urgent need for targeted protection, health, and education services.
The geography of this crisis reveals an interlocking emergency that blurs the lines between source, transit, and host countries across the Central Sahel. While grappling with its own internal turmoil of over 400,000 IDPs, Mali continues to provide asylum to over 93,000 refugees, the vast majority from a single neighboring state. Simultaneously, Malian nationals seeking safety abroad place immense and disproportionate pressure on the generosity of host communities in a few neighboring countries. This volatility is compounded by a stark global protection gap: a Malian’s chance of receiving refugee status can vary from over 80 per cent in one host country to less than 1 per cent in another, making access to safety a matter of geography, not just need.
While pathways to solutions exist, they are being overwhelmed by the scale of new displacement. Although over 51,000 people have returned home, these gains are fragile and are now being reversed. The gap between those newly forced to flee and the availability of durable solutions like resettlement or local integration is widening at a distressing rate. The progress made in recent years is under direct threat, demonstrating that without a concerted effort to restore security and stability, humanitarian needs will continue to outpace our collective capacity to respond. Sustained international support is not just a request; it is the only viable path to prevent a generational catastrophe in the heart of the Sahel.
Population Overview
Population Overview: The Deepening Internal Displacement Crisis in Mali
The scale of forced displacement in Mali is characterized by a profound and escalating internal crisis. The data reveals that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) constitute the overwhelming majority of the population of concern, accounting for approximately 73 per cent of the nearly 500,000 individuals in need of protection. This long-standing trend has shown a worrying acceleration. The most significant development is the sharp increase in internal displacement, which rose by 69,090 people—a 19 per cent rise—between the end of 2023 and early 2024. This increase, driven almost exclusively by new internal movements, points to a deteriorating security situation and ongoing conflict within the country’s borders, eclipsing all other population changes.
Behind these stark numbers lies a demographic profile of significant vulnerability. The displaced population is overwhelmingly young, with a wide base in the population pyramid indicating a high youth dependency ratio. A pronounced gender imbalance is evident among adults, where women aged 18-59 comprise 27 per cent of the total displaced population, compared to just 17 per cent for men in the same age group. This demographic structure underscores acute protection risks and highlights critical needs for child protection, education, maternal healthcare, and targeted livelihood support for what are likely a high number of female-headed households.
While the internal crisis dominates the humanitarian landscape, Mali also hosts a significant refugee population. However, the refugee situation is highly concentrated, with individuals from one neighbouring country accounting for the vast majority of the over 93,000 refugees in Mali. Other nationalities form much smaller communities, requiring a tailored and diverse response.
Amidst the growing displacement, some movements toward solutions are visible, with over 51,000 former IDPs having returned to their areas of origin. However, these gains are dwarfed by the sheer volume of new displacement. The data from recent years confirms a persistent and worsening trend where internal displacement remains the primary and most urgent humanitarian challenge in Mali.
Demographics
AI Insight: Treemap of the Population of Concern in Mali by type, where Internally Displaced Persons constitute the vast majority of the 496,000 individuals., This treemap provides a breakdown of the 496,000 individuals classified as ‘Population of Concern’ in Mali as of 2024. The area of each rectangle is proportional to the size of the population group it represents.
The data highlights a significant internal displacement crisis, with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) being the largest group by a substantial margin, numbering 360,591, which is approximately 73% of the total.
The second-largest category is Returned IDPs, with 51,546 individuals. This suggests that while displacement is ongoing, some individuals have been able to return to their homes.
Other, much smaller, populations of concern are also represented, including 16 Returned Refugees. The remaining individuals are distributed across four other distinct categories, such as refugees, asylum-seekers, and others of concern, which together make up a smaller fraction of the total. The visualization underscores that internal displacement is the primary humanitarian challenge in Mali.
AI Insight: Population pyramid of displaced persons in Mali by age and gender, showing a very young population with a significantly higher proportion of adult women than adult men., This population pyramid illustrates the age and gender distribution of 2,207,379 displaced persons (including refugees, asylum-seekers, and IDPs) in Mali as of 2024. The chart is broken down into five-year age groups on the vertical axis and the percentage of the population on the horizontal axis, with males on the left and females on the right.
The pyramid has a wide base, indicating a very youthful population structure. The largest single demographic group is adult females aged 18-59, who constitute 27.2% of the total population. In contrast, males in the same age bracket make up a significantly smaller portion at 17.0%.
Children represent a substantial part of the population. The 0-4 age group consists of 13.4% females and 13.1% males. The gender distribution is nearly balanced across all child and adolescent age groups (0-17).
The elderly population (60+) is the smallest cohort, comprising 2.7% females and 2.4% males.
Overall, the data highlights two key features: a large youth dependency ratio and a pronounced gender imbalance among adults, with a surplus of women. This demographic profile suggests critical needs in areas such as child protection, education, maternal health, and targeted livelihood support for female-headed households.
Trends Over Time
AI Insight: Grouped column chart of population types in Mali from 2019 to 2024, where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) consistently constitute the vast majority of the population of concern., This grouped column chart presents the number of people (in thousands) for six different population types in Mali, with data provided for each year from 2019 to 2024. The population types include Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Returned IDPs, Returned Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Stateless Persons, and Others of Concern.
A statistical analysis reveals a significant disparity between the population groups. The data is heavily skewed, with a mean value of approximately 66,000 people but a median of only 136. This indicates that one category has exceptionally high numbers compared to the others. The maximum value recorded for a single group in a year is 379,932.
The dominant trend visible in the chart is the overwhelming prevalence of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which constitute the largest group by a substantial margin in every year shown. Returned IDPs form the second-largest group, with figures ranging from approximately 20,000 to 80,000. All other categories, including Returned Refugees and Asylum-seekers, are numerically much smaller, often by several orders of magnitude. The chart effectively highlights that internal displacement is the most significant humanitarian concern in Mali during this period.
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of population changes in Mali between 2023 and 2024, where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) increased by nearly 70,000, while refugee and asylum-seeker populations saw slight decreases., This horizontal bar chart details the changes in six distinct population groups of concern to UNHCR in Mali, comparing figures from the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024. The bars represent the absolute change in the number of people, with text labels providing both the absolute number and the percentage change for each group.
The most significant trend is the substantial increase in the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which rose by 69,090 people (+19%). This single group accounts for the vast majority of the overall population change, reflecting a deteriorating security situation and ongoing displacement within Mali.
In contrast, other population groups experienced much smaller changes. The ‘Others of concern’ category saw a moderate increase of 5,489 people (+11%). Both refugee and asylum-seeker populations recorded slight decreases, with refugees declining by 110 individuals (-0.2%) and asylum-seekers by 295 individuals (-31%). The populations of both former refugee and former IDP returnees remained relatively stable with minor increases.
Overall, the data indicates a net increase in the total population of concern in Mali between the two periods, driven almost exclusively by the sharp rise in internal displacement. This highlights the escalating humanitarian crisis within the country’s borders.
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of the number of refugees in Mali by top 9 countries of origin for 2024, where the population is dominated by a single country of origin, with significantly fewer refugees from all other nations., This horizontal bar chart displays the distribution of refugee populations in Mali by their top nine countries of origin, plus an ‘Others’ category, as of 2024. The vertical axis lists the countries of origin, while the horizontal axis quantifies the number of individuals.
The data shows a highly skewed distribution. One country of origin accounts for the vast majority of refugees, with a population of 93,445. The remaining groups are substantially smaller, with the next largest group numbering 11,604. The smallest registered group consists of only 27 individuals.
Statistically, the mean number of refugees per origin category is 13,553, but this figure is heavily influenced by the largest group. A more representative measure for the smaller national groups is the median, which is 186 people. The large difference between the mean and the median, along with a high standard deviation of 29,355, underscores the extreme variability and the presence of a significant outlier in the dataset. This distribution indicates that while one nationality forms the primary focus for refugee response in Mali, a diverse range of smaller refugee populations with distinct needs also requires attention.
Geography & Movements
Geography of Displacement: Interlocking Crises in the Central Sahel
The geography of displacement related to Mali paints a picture of a deeply interconnected and rapidly escalating regional crisis. The data reveals that the country is simultaneously a major source of displacement, a significant host of refugees, and the site of a severe internal displacement crisis, reflecting the interlocking nature of instability across the Central Sahel.
The most alarming trend is the exponential growth of internal displacement within Mali’s own borders. Between 2019 and 2025, the number of internally displaced Malians has swelled to over 400,000, a figure that now dwarfs all other displaced populations in the country. This sharp increase points to a severe intensification of internal conflict and insecurity, which serves as the primary driver of new movements.
Behind these stark numbers of internal turmoil lies a story of regional spillover. The overwhelming majority of those forced to flee Mali seek safety in a handful of neighboring countries. This constitutes a pattern of highly concentrated displacement, placing immense pressure on the generosity of host communities. The data reveals a particularly disproportionate burden, with one country, Côte d’Ivoire, hosting over 3.2 million forcibly displaced people from Mali. This is more than thirteen times the number hosted by the next largest receiving country, illustrating the acute strain placed on a single nation.
At the same time, Mali continues to provide asylum, though its refugee population is also defined by a concentrated crisis. The data shows that refugees from just one neighboring country account for over 93,000 individuals, making up the vast majority of all refugees in Mali. This reciprocal displacement, compounded by growing inflows from countries like Burkina Faso, underscores that the lines between source, transit, and host countries in the Sahel are increasingly blurred. Taken together, these movements highlight an urgent need for comprehensive regional solutions and robust international support for host communities bearing the greatest responsibility.
AI Insight: Choropleth map of the number of displaced people from Mali by destination country in 2024, where the vast majority are hosted in a few neighboring West African nations., This world map visualizes the distribution of refugees, asylum-seekers, and other people of concern originating from Mali across 60 destination countries as of 2024. The map uses a color scale to represent the number of displaced persons in each country, revealing a pattern of displacement that is heavily concentrated in Mali’s immediate geographical region.
Statistical analysis of the underlying data shows an extremely skewed distribution. The number of displaced Malians per country ranges from as few as 5 to a maximum of 360,591 in a single host nation. The median number of individuals hosted is only 27, which contrasts sharply with the mean of approximately 12,000. This large difference indicates that a few countries host exceptionally large populations, pulling the average up. Furthermore, 75% of host countries shelter fewer than 195 individuals each.
This pattern underscores that the Malian displacement crisis is predominantly a regional one. The immense pressure of hosting is borne by a small number of neighboring countries, a common feature of forced displacement in the Sahel where populations seek safety across the nearest borders. The visualization effectively highlights the disproportionate responsibility shouldered by these nations and points to where humanitarian resources are most critically needed.
Origin of Displaced Populations
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of the top 9 countries of origin for refugees in Mali in 2024, where the refugee population is dominated by individuals from a single country, constituting the vast majority of the total., This horizontal bar chart details the origins of refugees residing in Mali as of 2024, ranking the top nine countries and an ‘Other’ category by population size. The visualization highlights a stark concentration of refugees from one primary country of origin, which accounts for 93,445 individuals. This is in sharp contrast to the other source countries; the median refugee population from a single origin is only 186 people, and the minimum is 27. This heavily skewed distribution indicates that Mali’s refugee situation is predominantly defined by a single, large-scale crisis in a specific country, with much smaller refugee populations arriving from a variety of other nations.
