Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025

Regional Overviews

Sub-Saharan Africa (Part 2)
Sudan recorded 200,000 disaster displacements against a backdrop of ongoing conflict. Greater data availability compared with the previous year indicated that three-quarters took place at the peak of the rainy season in August. Unusually heavy rains in the north of the country caused flooding that triggered displacement in River Nile state, where nearly two-thirds of those displaced had already fled conflict and violence. A dam burst near Port Sudan, where many humanitarian services have been relocated from the capital, Khartoum, led to further displacement and disrupted people’s access to water.

Upstream on the White Nile river, South Sudan recorded 423,000 flood displacements, in many cases forcing people who had fled conflict and disasters in previous years to move again. Most movements took place in the northern states of Jonglei, Unity and Warrap. Continued violence and insecurity discouraged some IDPs from moving to higher ground and hampered data collection, making estimates conservative. Conflict and violence triggered 269,000 displacements, fewer than in 2023. 

Around 1.4 million people were living in displacement at the end of the year, of whom 945,000 had fled conflict and violence and 415,000 disasters. To address the challenges brought on by displacement, the government of South Sudan published a Durable Solutions Strategy and Plan of Action for Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons, Returnees and Host Communities in October 2024.

Nigeria recorded 295,000 displacements associated with conflict and violence. As in previous years, the north-western states of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara were the scene of criminal violence linked to cattle rustling, kidnappings and extorsion, which led to almost 123,000 movements. Conflict and violence in several states, including Borno, Katsina and Yobe triggered 57,000, and communal violence in Benue 43,000. Nigeria was hosting 3.4 million IDPs as a result of conflict and violence at the end of the year, the region’s third-highest number after Sudan and DRC. 

Disaster displacements were recorded across all states, the result of floods which sometimes overlapped with conflict. The north-eastern state of Borno, where around 121,000 movements took place, was a case in point, setting back efforts to support IDPs in achieving durable solutions.

An escalation of conflict and violence in Mozambique triggered 240,000 displacements in Cabo Delgado and neighbouring northern provinces, nearly six times as many as in 2023. Attacks by the Islamic State Mozambique on communities in the Chiúre and Macomia districts of Cabo Delgado led to more than 96,000 movements, most of them involving women and children.

Tropical cyclone Chido made landfall in mid-December, also affecting Cabo Delgado and neighbouring Nampula and Niassa provinces. The storm triggered around 536,000 movements, the country’s second-highest disaster displacement figure on record after the 640,000 triggered by cyclone Freddy in 2023. It also increased IDPs’ needs and aggravated their living conditions, forcing many to move again and complicating response efforts.

Initial assessments undertaken across 10 districts of Cabo Delgado and Nampula showed that Chido had affected 95 per cent of homes, leaving people exposed to the rest of the rainy season, which usually lasts until March. There was also evidence of onward displacement after the storm as people searched for livelihoods.

More than 718,000 people were living in displacement across the country as a whole at the end of the year, of whom 580,000 had fled conflict and violence and 138,000 disasters. 

Fewer conflict displacements were recorded elsewhere in the region compared with 2023, but the overall number of IDPs did not change significantly, highlighting the challenges that many face in resolving their situation. 

​Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Norwegian Refugee Council. Geneva, Switzerland.