Nigeria’s many river systems make it highly prone to flood displacement

 

Description: Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. It is also located at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers, which flow into the Gulf of Guinea through a large delta on which several major cities sit. Most of the country receives substantial precipitation during the rainy season, and floods in both rural and urban areas are not uncommon. As a result, Nigeria reported the highest number of disaster displacements in Africa between 2009 and 2023 with 8.7 million movements or a fifth of the continental total.
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Western Africa

 

Description: Around 24.3 million internal displacements were recorded in Western Africa between 2009 and 2023. Conflict and violence accounted for 11.6 million, most of which were associated with Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the Central Sahel also recorded significant figures. Burkina Faso has been one of the continent’s fastest growing internal  displacement situations since conflict escalated there in 2018.

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Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

 

Description: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been the country most affected by internal displacement associated with conflict and violence in Africa in the last fifteen years and among the most affected globally. Around 6.7 million people were living in displacement at the end of 2023 as a result of conflict and violence, including 5.1 million in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. Their living conditions have become increasingly dire and the lack of peace and security limits their prospect of achieving solutions.
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Central Africa

 

Description: Central Africa is home to some of the largest internally displaced populations on the continent. There were nearly 9.1 million IDPs as of the end of 2023, the highest figure for the sub-region in the last 15 years. The overwhelming majority were displaced by conflict and violence, particularly in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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The Darfur region hosted more than half of the country’s IDPs by the end of 2023

Description: By the end of 2023, Darfur was home to 4.6 million IDPs, more than half of the country’s total. The region alone had the second highest number of IDPs in Africa after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (see spotlight, p.29). Countrywide, nearly 20 per cent of Sudan’s population was internally displaced and 1.5 million people had fled the country.

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Eastern Africa

 

Description: Eastern Africa recorded more internal displacements than any other sub-region between 2009 and 2023, with 56.3 million or 46 per cent of the total for the continent. Conflict and violence triggered 35.9 million movements and disasters 20.5 million. The sub-region has been the scene of some of the world’s largest conflict displacement crises, including in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and more recently in Sudan. Other countries, such as Somalia and South Sudan, have also experienced protracted conflict and displacement.
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Location of flood displacement events in Africa (2018-2023)

 

Description: The growing availability of geolocated flood data sheds light on the areas most affected, providing valuable insights to inform local actions that support communities at risk of new and repeated flood displacement. If data collection continues to improve, governments will be in a better position to support IDPs in overcoming their vulnerabilities, regardless of the duration or severity of their situation.
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Conflict displacement hotspots in Africa (2018-2023)

 

Description: Geolocated displacement data shows that the events of conflict and violence that have triggered displacement since 2018 are largely concentrated.

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IDPs by disasters at the end of 2024

Description: Around 9.8 million people across 94 countries and territories were living in displacement as result of disasters at the end of 2024. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 5.7 million, 58 per cent of the global total. At the  country level, Afghanistan, Chad, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Somalia had the highest figures.
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Copyright © Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) September 2025.

Internal displacements by disasters in 2015-2024

 

Description: Disaster displacement affects all countries, regardless of their income level. Around 264.8 million movements were recorded across 210 countries and territories between 2015 and 2024. East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia were the most affected regions. At the country level, Bangladesh, China, India, the Philippines and the US recorded the highest figures over the past decade.
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Copyright © Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) September 2025.