Analysis of Number of Refugees vs World Development Indicators
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The 1951 Refugee Convention is the legal document that defines the term 'refugee', outlines the rights of the displaced, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them. 145 State parties have ratified the document. The core principle is that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. This is now considered a rule of customary international law. Let us look at The World Bank's "World Development Indicators" to see which states are living up to the spirit of the convention. Push Next to Continue
World Refugees (in Millions)% of Refugees hosted by:46 Upper Middle Income Countries34 Lower Middle Income Countries29 Low Income Countries53 High Income Countries
According to The World Bank, from 1990 to 2017 the number of refugees have varied from a 2005 low of approximately 12.8 million, to a 2017 high of approximately 25.4 million. [Black line in top chart].In 2017 The World Bank counted: 53 high income countries [Green above]; 46 upper middle income countries [Blue above]; 34 lower middle income countries [Orange above]; and 29 low income countries hosting refugees[Red above]. The chart above plots the percent of refugees hosted by these 4 categories.It is evident is the high income countries have consistently born a low burden. Push Next
% of World's GNI53 High Income Countries46 Upper Middle Income Countries34 Lower Middle Income Countries29 Low Income Countries% of Wold's Refugees
The 53 high income countries are bearing a low burden, but just how low? The World Bank publishes many indicators that allow us to drill down into the size of this disparity. The charts above plot the percent of refugees hosted below and the GNI for that income quadrant above (year 2017). For consistency, all following charts will plot the percent of refugees on the bottom graph and the percent of a selected WDI indicators on the top graph. Push Next to drilldown and explore further based upon year, country grouping, and differing WDI indicators.
Countries
Drill down by country and discover the disparity!Select:(1) A target year,(2) A target WDI indicator, and (3) A country grouping.Mouse over the graph to view the data.