Sudan: Country Report | 2024
AI Generated Analysis based on UNHCR Forced Displacement Statisitics.
Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: KEY TRENDS
Sudan is a world in turmoil, facing a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions. The 2024 data reveals a seismic shift in the displacement landscape, signaling that the crisis has entered a new, volatile phase where mass displacement vastly outpaces available protection mechanisms. With the total population of concern reaching approximately 12.4 million, the international community witnesses not just a conflict, but the rapid disintegration of human security for millions.
Displacement at Breaking Point The crisis is overwhelmingly defined by internal dislocation. Of those uprooted, 93 percent—11.6 million individuals—are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This figure represents a staggering increase of over 2.5 million people in a single year, a growth rate that defies historical baselines. This burden is not borne equally; the demographic profile reveals a distinct prevalence of women and girls, who face disproportionate risks and require urgent, gender-responsive interventions. Crucially, the data shows that this emergency remains geographically confined. While displacement figures are massive, they are concentrated within Sudan and its immediate neighbors, while 75 percent of reporting countries globally host fewer than 1,400 individuals from Sudan.
The Dual Burden and the Protection Lottery Despite buckling under the weight of the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, Sudan continues to shoulder immense responsibilities as a host nation, supporting a refugee population of over 613,000—mostly from a single neighboring country. The operational environment is fracturing; while Sudan attempts to manage caseloads through prima facie recognition, Sudanese nationals seeking safety beyond their borders face a global “protection lottery.” Recognition rates for Sudanese refugees vary wildly from 8.5% to 91.8% across different jurisdictions, highlighting a fracturing of international solidarity and a lack of harmonized protection standards.
Solutions and Future Outlook True durable solutions remain elusive. While the data records nearly 307,000 “returns,” this figure largely reflects refugees fleeing insecurity within Sudan rather than voluntary, safe repatriation—a symptom of desperation, not stability. These movements outpace formal recognition mechanisms by a factor of nearly 200 in peak periods. Projections for 2025 indicate demand for cross-border solutions could reach 1 million. Without an immediate cessation of hostilities and a massive infusion of unearmarked funding, the gap between the scale of human suffering and our capacity to respond will become an unbridgeable chasm.
Population Overview
Sudan: A Deepening Displacement Crisis
The humanitarian landscape in Sudan underwent a seismic shift in 2024, driven by an escalating crisis that has left millions uprooted and vulnerable. As of the reporting period, the total population of concern in Sudan reached approximately 12.4 million individuals. Behind these stark numbers lies a narrative of mass internal displacement that overwhelmingly dominates the country’s demographic profile.
The data reveals an extreme concentration of the humanitarian burden. Of the total affected population, approximately 93 percent—amounting to 11.6 million individuals—belong to a single category, primarily Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This constitutes a rise of over 2.5 million individuals in just one year, a surge that sharply contrasts with the decline of approximately 129,000 observed in other population groups during the same period. This magnitude of growth represents a massive outlier in historical data tracked since 2019, signalling that the crisis has entered a new, more volatile phase where displacement is outpacing potential solutions.
The demographic profile of this displaced population underscores the acute need for gender-responsive protection mechanisms. Statistical analysis indicates a prevalence of women and girls, who comprise a mean distribution of 10.3 percent across age cohorts compared to 9.7 percent for males. Notably, the largest single demographic segment constitutes females, accounting for 22.5 percent of the analyzed population. This slight but significant gender skew highlights the disproportionate impact of the conflict on women and children, necessitating targeted interventions to address specific vulnerabilities including gender-based violence.
While internal displacement is the primary driver of these figures, Sudan continues to shoulder responsibilities as a host nation. The data highlights a refugee population heavily skewed by arrivals from a single neighboring country, which accounts for over 613,000 individuals—a figure that dwarfs the median of approximately 5,400 from other countries of origin. Conversely, solutions remain elusive; while nearly 307,000 returned refugees were recorded, this figure is eclipsed by the sheer scale of new displacements. The high standard deviation in population growth across groups indicates that the humanitarian shock is not evenly distributed, but rather concentrated intensely within specific, highly vulnerable communities, widening the gap between urgent protection needs and available funding.
Demographics
AI Insight: Treemap showing the distribution of 12.4 million individuals of concern in Sudan as of 2024, where a single category (approx. 11.6 million) overwhelmingly dominates the dataset compared to six significantly smaller groups., This treemap visualizes the demographic breakdown of the ‘Population of Concern’ in Sudan for the year 2024, totaling 12,434,000 individuals. The data is segmented into 7 distinct population types, represented by rectangular tiles proportional to their size.
Statistical analysis reveals an extreme skew in the distribution. The largest category contains 11,559,970 individuals, accounting for approximately 93% of the total population. This suggests that the humanitarian context is driven primarily by one massive group (likely Internally Displaced Persons, given the scale). The remaining six categories share the remaining 7% of the population, with a median group size of only 32,823. Specific data points indicate a group of ‘returned refugees’ numbering 306,567, while the smallest recorded category has a value of 0. The visualization effectively highlights the disproportionate scale of the primary displacement category relative to other population types.
AI Insight: Population pyramid of age and gender distribution for displaced populations in Sudan (2024), where the female population (mean 10.3%) slightly exceeds the male population (mean 9.7%) across five age cohorts., This population pyramid visualizes the demographic structure of Refugees (REF), Asylum Seekers (ASY), Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), and other groups in Sudan as of 2024. The data covers a total population of 57,141,966 individuals, with 100% gender disaggregation. The chart organizes the population into five age groups (represented by the ‘age’ factor variable) and compares the proportional distribution of females and males.
Statistical analysis reveals: - Female Population: Proportions range from a minimum of 2.9% to a maximum of 22.5% per age group, with an average distribution of 10.3%. - Male Population: Proportions range from a minimum of 2.6% to a maximum of 18.9% per age group, with an average distribution of 9.7%. - Demographic Trend: The data indicates a slightly higher prevalence of females compared to males across the demographic profile. The largest single demographic segment is female (22.5%), exceeding the largest male segment (18.9%).
Trends Over Time
AI Insight: Bar chart of population types in Sudan from 2019 to 2024, where the highest recorded population category reaches over 11.5 million people., The visualization displays a bar chart representing various population types in Sudan, tracking changes annually from 2019 to 2024. The dataset consists of 36 records covering 6 distinct population categories, which include Asylum seekers, Stateless persons, and other groups of concern.
The statistical profile indicates a highly skewed distribution of people. While the median population count per group per year is relatively low at approximately 9,700, the maximum recorded value surges to 11,559,970. This extreme outlier suggests a massive increase in a specific population type (likely Internally Displaced Persons) in the most recent data. Specific metrics for returned populations show that returned refugees peaked at 397,061, whereas the count for returned IDPs remained at zero for the entire duration.
AI Insight: Bar chart showing changes in six population groups in Sudan from 2023 to 2024, where the largest group increased by over 2.5 million people, while one group decreased by approximately 129,000., The chart is a column graph titled ‘Sudan: Increases and Decreases in Population Groups | 2023-2024’, illustrating the demographic shifts across six distinct population categories.
Statistical analysis reveals a significant net increase in the overall affected population during this period. The average population size per group rose from approximately 1.67 million in 2023 to 2.07 million in 2024.
The data highlights extreme disparity in growth rates: - Maximum Increase: The largest population group (likely Internally Displaced Persons, given the context and magnitude) saw a massive surge, increasing by 2,507,148 individuals. This group reached a total of 11,559,970 in 2024, up from 9,052,822 in 2023. - Decrease: In contrast, one population group experienced a decline, reducing by 129,079 individuals.
The high standard deviation in the 2024 data (4.66 million) compared to the mean (2.07 million) indicates that the humanitarian burden is heavily concentrated in specific population categories rather than evenly distributed.
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart showing the number of refugees in Sudan by country of origin in 2024, where a single country overwhelmingly dominates the figures with over 613,000 people, while the median for other origins is approximately 5,400., This visualization depicts the demographic breakdown of refugees in Sudan for the year 2024, highlighting the top 9 countries of origin plus an ‘Other’ category. The chart uses horizontal bars to compare population counts.
Statistical analysis reveals a highly skewed distribution driven by a single dominant country of origin. The maximum value in the dataset is 613,052 people, which stands as a massive outlier compared to the rest of the data. While the mean number of refugees per group is approximately 79,340, this figure is inflated by the maximum value; the median is significantly lower at 5,408 people. The histogram structure (▇▁▁▁▁) further confirms that the vast majority of the refugee population comes from one specific source, with the remaining nine categories showing relatively low counts (the 75th percentile is 39,674).
Geography & Movements
Geography & Movements: The Sudan Crisis
The escalating conflict in Sudan has precipitated a seismic shift in regional displacement dynamics, creating a humanitarian emergency characterized by extreme geographic concentration and a rapid intensification of internal dislocation. Behind these stark numbers lies a complex narrative of a nation acting simultaneously as a major source of displacement and a fragile host to hundreds of thousands of refugees.
The data reveals that the crisis is overwhelmingly contained within Sudan’s own borders, challenging the capacity of humanitarian infrastructure. An analysis of population flows from 2019 to 2025 traces a drastic trajectory: while displacement figures remained relatively stable in earlier years, the period spanning 2024 and 2025 witnessed a sharp escalation. The number of people displaced from Sudan—predominantly Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)—has surged to a peak of nearly 11.6 million. This constitutes a rise of unprecedented magnitude, where internal displacement figures now vastly outnumber cross-border refugee movements.
This localization of the crisis is further evidenced by global distribution patterns. While the sheer volume of displacement is massive, it is not evenly dispersed. Geographic visualizations indicate an extreme skew; while the primary area of displacement hosts millions, the vast majority of reporting countries—75 percent—host fewer than 1,353 individuals originating from Sudan. With a median value of roughly 96 individuals per location globally, it is evident that the burden of protection is not being shared globally but is instead resting heavily on the country of origin and its immediate neighbors.
Paradoxically, even as Sudan generates the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, it remains a critical country of asylum. The data highlights a significant imbalance in the refugee population residing within Sudan, where a single country of origin accounts for over 613,000 individuals, vastly overshadowing other groups. This creates a compounding crisis: a nation buckling under the weight of over 11 million internally displaced citizens must also support a massive, concentrated refugee population from the region. The stark disparity between the median displaced population in host nations and the massive outliers in the immediate region underscores an urgent reality: the humanitarian fallout is geographically confined, placing immense strain on a limited number of host communities that are already facing severe instability.
AI Insight: World map displaying the destination countries of people displaced from Sudan in 2024, where the population is extremely concentrated in one location (approx. 11.6 million people, likely IDPs), while the vast majority of other countries host fewer than 1,500 individuals., A world map titled ‘Where are people from Sudan?’ illustrates the geographic distribution of Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Internally displaced persons (IDPs), and others of concern originating from Sudan as of 2024. The visualization is based on a dataset of 241 geographic entities, of which 106 have recorded population values. The data is characterized by extreme skewness: while the number of people per location ranges from 5 to roughly 11.6 million, the median value is only 96.5. The massive maximum value (approx. 11.6 million) likely represents Internally Displaced Persons within Sudan, acting as a significant outlier compared to the rest of the world. In contrast, 75% of the reporting countries host fewer than 1,353 individuals, indicating that the displaced population remains heavily concentrated in the country of origin or immediate region rather than being widely dispersed globally.
Origin of Displaced Populations
AI Insight: Horizontal bar chart displaying the number of refugees in Sudan by country of origin in 2024, where one nation accounts for 613,052 people, significantly outnumbering all other groups., The visualization presents a horizontal bar chart ranking the top countries of origin for refugees in Sudan for the year 2024. The dataset contains 10 entries, aligning with the subtitle ‘Top 9 Countries of Origin’ likely by including an aggregated ‘Other’ category. The data reveals a highly unequal distribution driven by a massive outlier: the top origin country accounts for 613,052 individuals. This is in sharp contrast to the rest of the group, where the median value is 5,408 and the 75th percentile is 39,674. The high standard deviation of 190,695 relative to the mean of 79,340 statistically confirms that the refugee population is overwhelmingly concentrated in one specific nationality, despite the presence of others from regions such as Somalia and Yemen.
