Gambia, The: Forcibly displaced people

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Gambia, The's forcibly displaced people rose 4.7% on 2024 (from 4,411 to 4,617).

Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2024), the average change was +1.4% and a typical year strayed about 37.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 105% in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 55.7% in 2024. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Gambia, The had the 137th highest value of the 169 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Gambia, The in the 2025 ranking

• Sri Lanka — 134th of 169: 5,284
• Eswatini — 135th of 169: 4,925
• Albania — 136th of 169: 4,684
• Saudi Arabia — 138th of 169: 4,355
• Suriname — 139th of 169: 3,215
• Turkmenistan — 140th of 169: 3,209

What this measures

Forcibly displaced people are represented by the sum of (1) refugees (and people in a refugee-like situation) under the mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), (2) refugees under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), (3) asylum-seekers, (4) other people in need of international protection, and (5) internally displaced people (IDPs). Situations in which people are reported in more than one of these categories are accounted for, to the extent possible.

Limitations: Aggregating data across diverse categories introduces challenges in maintaining comparability and consistency. Variations in data collection methods and definitions—such as differing criteria for refugee or IDP status—can complicate efforts to standardize figures across countries and regions. Additionally, dynamic changes in displacement, including secondary movements or status transitions (e.g., from asylum-seeker to refugee), may lead to double counting or data gaps. The diverse sources of data, ranging from administrative records to field surveys, further underscore the importance of contextualizing and cautiously interpreting the aggregate figures.

All 16 values

Forcibly displaced people in nearby economies

• Angola — 55,657 (2025)
• Benin — 54,921 (2025)
• Botswana — 868 (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 2.11 million (2025)
• Burundi — 119,066 (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 0 (2025)
• Cameroon — 1.38 million (2025)
• Central African Republic — 490,761 (2025)
• Chad — 2.1 million (2025)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 4.88 million (2025)
• Congo, Rep. — 70,609 (2025)

More social protection & labor data for Gambia, The

• Net migration — -2,984 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 28.63% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 32.8% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 30.73% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 46.9% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 50.53% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 48.7% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Gambia, The's forcibly displaced people?

4,617 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is down 45.34% from 8,447 in 2010 (3.95% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 11,606 in 2014 and the lowest 4,376 in 2018.

How does Gambia, The rank?

137th highest of 169 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in forcibly displaced people unusual for Gambia, The?

In 2025, Gambia, The's forcibly displaced people rose 4.7% on 2024 (from 4,411 to 4,617). Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2024), the average change was +1.4% and a typical year strayed about 37.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SM.POP.FDIP, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Refugee Population Statistics Database, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), uri: https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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