Niger: Country Report | 2024
AI Generated Analysis based on UNHCR Forced Displacement Statisitics.
Executive Summary
Key Trends: Niger at the Epicentre of the Sahel Crisis
Niger stands at a breaking point, grappling with a compounding humanitarian crisis that now affects nearly one million people. Unrelenting conflict has pushed internal displacement to a devastating new high of over half a million people, with no safe pathway for return yet possible. Simultaneously, Niger continues to uphold its international commitments with extraordinary generosity, hosting a refugee population that has surged dramatically, driven almost entirely by the escalating violence in neighbouring Nigeria. This dual burden places immense strain on a nation facing its own profound challenges.
The human cost of this instability is borne by the most vulnerable. The displaced population is profoundly youthful, with children under five forming the largest single demographic group. This reality signals a protracted emergency requiring long-term investment in education, health, and protection. Niger’s national asylum system, despite innovative efforts to manage mass influxes, is overwhelmed, creating a significant backlog that leaves families in prolonged uncertainty. The generosity of host communities, who share scarce resources, is being stretched to its absolute limit.
Amidst this stark reality, a strategic focus on solutions has yielded remarkable progress. In 2023, concerted efforts by the Government of Niger and partners enabled over 27,000 refugees to find a durable solution—a nearly twenty-fold increase since 2019 and a clear demonstration that investment in pathways to stability delivers results. However, these gains are fragile. Projections for the coming years show a potential decline in these opportunities, threatening to reverse hard-won progress.
The situation in Niger is a litmus test for international solidarity. The generosity of the Nigerien people must be met with robust and predictable funding from the international community. We have a shared responsibility to support this critical host country, alleviate the suffering of the displaced, and invest in the solutions that provide the only dignified end to displacement. We must not allow this progress to falter.
Population Overview
Population Overview: A Deepening Crisis in the Sahel
The humanitarian landscape in Niger is characterized by a severe and escalating displacement crisis, with the total population of concern approaching one million people by early 2024. The data reveals a nation grappling with the dual pressures of large-scale internal displacement and a massive influx of refugees, placing it at the epicentre of regional instability.
Behind these stark numbers, the primary challenge remains internal. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) constitute the largest single group, accounting for over half of all persons of concern at more than 507,000. This is not a new phenomenon but the result of a protracted and worsening security situation. An analysis of trends since 2019 shows a dramatic and near-continuous rise in the IDP population, driven by conflict and insecurity. The gravity of the situation is further underscored by the fact that conditions have remained unconducive for safe and dignified returns; consistently, zero returned IDPs have been recorded over this six-year period.
Compounding this internal crisis, Niger continues to uphold its commitments as a crucial host country for those fleeing persecution in neighbouring states. The refugee population has seen significant growth, with a particularly sharp increase of over 172,000 people between early 2023 and early 2024. This surge is overwhelmingly linked to the ongoing crisis in the Lake Chad Basin, with the vast majority of refugees—nearly 250,000—originating from Nigeria.
The demographic profile of the displaced reveals a population of extreme vulnerability. With a wide base and tapering top, the population pyramid is profoundly youthful; the largest cohort is children aged 0-4. This significant youth bulge signals urgent and long-term needs for specialized protection, nutrition, education, and maternal and child health services. Taken together, the data paints a picture of a nation under immense strain, where escalating displacement dynamics demand a sustained and robust international response to support both the displaced and the host communities that generously shelter them.
Demographics
AI Insight: Treemap chart of Population of Concern by Type in Niger, where Internally Displaced Persons constitute the largest group, accounting for over half of the 976,000 total individuals., This treemap visualization details the composition of the 976,000 individuals classified as ‘Population of Concern’ in Niger as of 2024. The data is broken down into seven distinct population types, with a highly skewed distribution.
Statistical Breakdown: - Total Population of Concern: 976,000 - The largest group is Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), numbering 507,438, which represents approximately 52% of the total population. - The second-largest category is Refugees and people in refugee-like situations, with a population of 210,898 (21.6%). - Other significant groups include Asylum-seekers at 46,590 (4.8%) and Returned refugees at 21,637 (2.2%). - Categories with zero or negligible populations reported in this dataset include Returned IDPs.
This distribution highlights a dual crisis affecting Niger: significant internal displacement, likely driven by conflict or climate-related factors, and a major cross-border refugee situation. The dominance of the IDP population underscores the need for national-level protection and assistance programs, while the substantial refugee numbers require robust international support and asylum systems. The data is critical for UNHCR’s strategic planning, resource allocation, and advocacy efforts in the region.
AI Insight: Population pyramid of forcibly displaced and stateless people in Niger by age and gender, where the population is predominantly young, with the largest group being children aged 0-4., This population pyramid displays the age and gender distribution of 4,718,092 forcibly displaced and stateless persons in Niger as of 2024. The data has 100% gender disaggregation. The pyramid’s wide base and narrow top indicate an extremely youthful population structure, common in displaced populations.
The largest demographic cohort is children aged 0-4. The proportion of females is generally higher than males across the age groups. The distribution is characterized by a steep decline in population size with increasing age. The largest group, females aged 0-4, represents approximately 20.9% of the total population, while males in the same age group account for 18.7%. Conversely, the oldest age groups are the smallest, with the minimum proportion for any group being 1.2% for females and 1.39% for males.
This demographic profile, with its significant youth bulge, underscores critical needs for child protection, education, and maternal and child health services for this vulnerable population in Niger.
Trends Over Time
AI Insight: Stacked column chart of people of concern in Niger by population type from 2019 to 2024, where the total number of people, particularly Internally Displaced Persons, has significantly increased over the period., This stacked column chart illustrates the trends in UNHCR’s populations of concern in Niger for each year from 2019 to 2024. The vertical axis represents the number of people, while the horizontal axis represents the year. Each bar is segmented by population type, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returned Refugees, Stateless Persons, and Others of Concern.
The most significant trend revealed by the data is a dramatic increase in the overall population of concern. The statistical profile shows that the maximum value for a single population group in a given year reached 507,438. This growth is primarily driven by a sharp rise in the number of Internally Displaced Persons, indicating a deteriorating security and humanitarian situation within Niger during this period.
While IDPs form the largest component, other groups also contribute to the figures. The number of returned refugees is present throughout the period, with values ranging from a low of 1,452 to a high of 27,625. Other categories such as refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons comprise the remaining segments. Notably, the data for ‘Returned IDPs’ is consistently zero across all six years, suggesting that conditions have not been conducive for the safe return of internally displaced populations. Overall, the chart visualizes an escalating displacement crisis in Niger.
AI Insight: Bar chart of increases and decreases in population groups in Niger between 2023 and 2024, where Others of Concern saw the largest percentage increase at 43%, while Returnees decreased by 1%., This bar chart illustrates the changes in populations of concern in Niger, comparing data from early 2024 with early 2023. It highlights both percentage and absolute changes for six distinct population groups, with a zero line visually separating groups that increased from those that decreased.
Overall, the total population of concern in Niger saw a significant rise during this period. The most dramatic changes are as follows:
Increases: - Others of Concern: This group experienced the highest percentage growth, increasing by 43%, which translates to an absolute rise of 8,722 individuals (from 20,419 to 29,141). - Internally displaced persons (IDPs): This population grew by 6%, an absolute increase of 18,978 people (from 316,300 to 335,278). - Refugees: While not the highest percentage increase, the refugee population saw the largest absolute growth, adding 172,161 people. This substantial influx raised their total from 335,277 in 2023 to 507,438 in 2024. - Asylum-seekers: This group saw a modest increase of 4%, corresponding to 1,620 more people (from 40,490 to 42,110).
Decreases: - Returnees: This was the only group to register a decrease, with a slight 1% reduction in their population, representing 628 fewer people (from 62,811 to 62,183).
The data indicates a worsening displacement situation affecting Niger, primarily driven by a massive increase in the number of refugees and significant growth among IDPs and other groups of concern.
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of the top 9 countries of origin for refugees in Niger for 2024, where the population is overwhelmingly from Nigeria., This horizontal bar chart details the top nine countries of origin for refugees in Niger as of 2024. The data highlights a significant concentration of refugees from a single country, reflecting the regional security dynamics.
The distribution is heavily skewed. Nigeria is the primary country of origin, with 245,845 refugees. This figure is substantially larger than that of all other countries combined. Following Nigeria, the numbers drop precipitously. The remaining eight specified countries and an ‘Others’ category have much smaller refugee populations. The statistical profile shows that 75% of the listed origin groups have fewer than 832 individuals, with a median of 110 people per group. The smallest group consists of just 24 individuals. This data underscores Niger’s critical role as a host country for those fleeing conflict and instability, particularly from the Lake Chad Basin crisis affecting northeastern Nigeria.
Geography & Movements
Geography of Displacement: The Sahelian Fulcrum
Niger finds itself at the epicenter of a complex and escalating displacement crisis in the central Sahel, grappling with the dual pressures of large-scale internal displacement and its role as a major host country for refugees. The data reveals a story of compounding instability where crises are deeply interconnected, spilling across borders and straining resources.
The most significant single population of displaced Nigeriens remains within their own country. By 2024, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) had reached over 554,000, a stark indicator of the intensifying conflict and insecurity, particularly in the Tillabéri and Diffa regions. For those forced to cross international borders, displacement remains overwhelmingly a regional phenomenon. Analysis of destination countries shows a highly concentrated pattern; while data is available for 32 countries, the median number of displaced Nigeriens is only 100 per country, highlighting that neighboring states such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad host the vast majority.
Simultaneously, Niger continues to provide refuge to those fleeing violence in neighboring countries. The scale of this inflow has grown substantially since 2019, driven primarily by the crisis in northeastern Nigeria. Behind these stark numbers, the data shows a heavily skewed reality: refugees from Nigeria alone account for nearly 246,000 individuals, dwarfing all other refugee populations in the country. While populations from Mali and Burkina Faso also seek safety in Niger, their numbers are significantly smaller, underscoring the severity of the Nigerian outflow.
This dual reality underscores Niger’s precarious position. The trends from 2019 to 2025 show a pronounced growth in both internal displacement and the refugee population from Nigeria. This constitutes a compounding crisis where escalating internal needs coexist with the immense responsibility of hosting a large and growing refugee population, placing extraordinary strain on national resources and host communities alike.
AI Insight: Choropleth map of destination countries for displaced populations from Niger as of 2024, where the vast majority are internally displaced within Niger, with neighboring countries hosting the largest refugee populations., This choropleth map illustrates the distribution of displaced persons originating from Niger, including refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), as of 2024. The data reveals a highly concentrated displacement pattern, with figures available for 32 countries.
The most significant finding is the scale of internal displacement; the maximum value in the dataset is 554,028, which corresponds to the number of IDPs within Niger itself. This highlights a severe internal crisis driven by conflict and insecurity.
For those who have crossed international borders, the displacement is predominantly regional. The statistical distribution is heavily skewed: while the mean number of displaced persons per country is approximately 19,000, the median is only 100. This indicates that a few host countries accommodate the vast majority of Niger’s displaced population. Seventy-five percent of the reporting countries host fewer than 629 individuals. The primary destinations for refugees and asylum-seekers are neighboring countries such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad, reflecting the common trend of seeking safety in close proximity during a crisis.
Origin of Displaced Populations
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart of the top 9 countries of origin for refugees in Niger in 2024, where a single country accounts for the vast majority of the refugee population., This horizontal bar chart displays the number of refugees in Niger in 2024, categorized by their top nine countries of origin plus an ‘Other’ category. The data is heavily skewed, with one country of origin representing the maximum value of 245,845 refugees. The remaining countries have significantly smaller populations. The median number of refugees across the categories is only 110, and 75% of the origin countries account for 832 or fewer refugees. The smallest group consists of 24 individuals. The high standard deviation (82,830) compared to the mean (36,984) further illustrates that the overall average is skewed by the single, very large refugee population, highlighting a concentrated displacement crisis from one primary nation into Niger.
AI Insight: Alluvial plot of the origins of forcibly displaced populations in Niger from 2019 to 2025, where the total number of displaced persons has grown substantially, driven by large increases from Nigeria and internal displacement within Niger., This alluvial plot illustrates the evolution of forcibly displaced populations in Niger by country of origin, for the period 2019 to 2025. The data visualizes the flow and scale of displacement from four primary origins: Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and those internally displaced within Niger (IDPs).
Statistical analysis reveals a dramatic increase in the displaced population over this timeframe. The number of individuals in any single group for a given year ranges from a low of 2,190 to a high of 554,028, indicating significant disparities and growth among the different populations. The two most prominent flows throughout the period originate from Nigeria and within Niger itself.
Key Trends: 1. Overall Growth: There is a pronounced upward trend in the total displaced population hosted by Niger. 2. Nigerian Refugees: The population displaced from Nigeria shows the most significant growth, becoming the largest or one of the largest groups by the end of the period. This reflects the ongoing conflict and insecurity in Nigeria’s northeastern states. 3. Internal Displacement (IDPs): The number of people displaced within Niger’s own borders also increases sharply, highlighting the escalating internal security challenges, particularly in the Tillabéri and Diffa regions. 4. Sahelian Displacement: While smaller in comparison, the displaced populations from Mali and Burkina Faso are also present, reflecting the broader regional instability in the Sahel.
The visualization underscores Niger’s dual role as both a major host country for refugees and a nation grappling with its own significant internal displacement crisis, with the scale of the challenge growing year on year.
Destination
AI Insight: Bar chart of the top 10 destination countries for forcibly displaced people from Niger as of 2024, where one destination hosts a vastly disproportionate number of people compared to the others., This vertical bar chart displays the top ten destination countries for people forcibly displaced from Niger, based on 2024 data. The chart illustrates a highly skewed distribution of displaced populations among these host countries.
From a statistical perspective, the data for the 10 countries shows a maximum of 3,376,149 people in a single country, while the median (or 50th percentile) is only 17,075. This significant difference is further highlighted by the large standard deviation (1,057,083) relative to the mean (369,955). The 75th percentile is 79,144, indicating that at least 7 of the 10 countries host fewer than 80,000 people. The minimum number of displaced people in a top-10 destination country is 4,861. The primary insight is the exceptional concentration of Niger’s displaced population in one main asylum country, with the remaining nine countries hosting substantially smaller numbers.
Asylum System
Pressures on National Asylum Systems
The data from 2024 reveals the immense and multifaceted pressures placed on national asylum systems, with Niger serving as a critical case study. The country’s asylum framework experienced unprecedented strain, marked by extreme volatility in its caseload that culminated in a dramatic peak. This surge in applications overwhelmed existing capacities, despite significant efforts to process claims. Behind these stark numbers lies the human consequence of regional instability, forcing an extraordinary number of people to seek safety across borders.
In response to this influx, the data shows a highly concentrated pattern of decision-making. Of the 83,390 asylum decisions rendered in Niger during 2024, a single procedural pathway accounted for 70 per cent of all outcomes. This points towards a large-scale, likely group-based, recognition process for a specific population, demonstrating an attempt by authorities to manage a mass displacement event efficiently. However, this approach did not extend to all asylum-seekers, as recognition rates for other nationalities varied dramatically from over 91 per cent to virtually zero, highlighting significant disparities in protection outcomes.
Despite these efforts, the sheer volume of new claims outpaced the system’s processing capacity. A widening gap between cumulative applications and decisions since 2020 illustrates a growing backlog, leading to longer waiting times for individuals and families in precarious situations.
Simultaneously, the data underscores Niger’s dual role as both a major host country and a country of origin. Its own citizens seeking protection abroad faced highly inconsistent prospects. Across the top 10 countries of asylum for Nigeriens, refugee recognition rates ranged from a high of 26 per cent to a low of zero. This disparity reveals a global protection lottery, where the likelihood of receiving sanctuary is often determined as much by geography as by the merits of the claim. Taken together, the trends in and from Niger paint a vivid picture of a national system at the epicentre of a crisis, grappling with overwhelming demand while its own people navigate an inconsistent international protection landscape.
AI Insight: Bar chart of asylum applications and decisions in Niger from 2019 to 2024, where the total number of cases fluctuated annually, culminating in a dramatic peak towards the end of the period., This bar chart provides an overview of asylum applications and decisions in Niger for the period 2019 to 2024. The data is grouped by the stage of the asylum process and presented annually.
A statistical analysis reveals extreme volatility in the caseload. Across all categories, the annual totals range from a low of 251 to an exceptional high of 43,589. The significant difference between the median number of cases (1,651) and the much higher average (9,644) indicates that the dataset is heavily skewed by one or more years with an extraordinarily high volume of activity. This suggests a period of acute crisis or a major displacement event that dramatically increased the demand on Niger’s asylum system.
The subtitle notes that one person may have more than one application, meaning the figures represent the total number of processed cases rather than unique individuals. This context is crucial, highlighting the administrative workload and the complexity of the asylum-seeking journey for some individuals.
AI Insight: Sankey diagram of Refugee Status Determination decisions in Niger in 2024, where the flow of 83,390 cases shows that a majority follow a single primary outcome pathway., This visualization is a Parallel Sets plot, also known as a Sankey diagram, illustrating the outcomes of 83,390 Refugee Status Determination (RSD) decisions in Niger during 2024. The diagram shows the flow of cases from their initial status to various final decisions. The width of each flow is proportional to the number of individuals it represents.
A statistical analysis of the underlying data reveals a highly concentrated pattern of decisions. While there are 60 distinct pathways recorded, one single flow accounts for 58,514 decisions, representing approximately 70% of the total. This is contrasted by a median flow size of only 146 individuals. This significant skew indicates that the vast majority of cases in this period followed a dominant, standardized outcome, which could be indicative of a group recognition process or a specific caseload with a very high recognition rate. The chart visually emphasizes this main channel alongside numerous smaller pathways for other case outcomes.
AI Insight: Area chart of cumulative asylum applications versus decisions in Niger from 2020 to 2024, where the widening gap between the two lines indicates a growing backlog and increased processing time for asylum cases., This visualization is an area chart that compares the cumulative total of asylum applications received against the cumulative total of first instance decisions made in Niger. The horizontal axis represents the timeline from 2020 to 2024, while the vertical axis shows the cumulative count of cases. The chart features two superimposed areas: one for ‘applications’ and one for ‘decisions’. Throughout the period, the cumulative number of applications consistently exceeds the number of decisions, creating a visible and expanding gap. This gap, which is explicitly highlighted, represents the growing backlog of pending asylum cases. The data indicates that while decisions are being processed, the rate of new applications is significantly higher, leading to an increase in the average processing time for asylum seekers awaiting a first instance decision as of 2024.
Recognition Rates
AI Insight: Bar chart of Refugee Recognition Rate by Country of Origin in Niger for 2024, where rates vary significantly among the top 10 countries, with some nationalities exceeding 90% while others are near 0%., This bar chart presents the refugee recognition rates in Niger for 2024, specifically for the 10 countries of origin with the highest number of asylum decisions. The countries are ordered by the total volume of decisions, not by the recognition rate itself. The vertical axis shows the recognition rate as a percentage.
A detailed statistical analysis reveals a stark contrast in outcomes based on nationality. Across these 10 groups, the recognition rate ranges dramatically from a high of 91.2% to a low of 0.017%. The average rate is 41.3%, with a median of 35.6%, indicating a wide and uneven distribution of positive outcomes. The total number of decisions per country also varies significantly, from 222 to 58,554. Notably, the data for complementary protection shows minimal application (mean of 1.9 cases), suggesting that asylum decisions for these groups in Niger are predominantly a binary outcome of either refugee status recognition or rejection.
