• Africans accounted for 15% of the world’s 304 million international migrants in 2024, despite representing 19% of the global population.
• About 25.1 million Africans lived in another African country in 2024, exceeding the 20.7 million living outside the continent.
• Nearly 87% of Africa’s 12.2 million refugees and asylum seekers remained in Africa in 2024.

Fears of mass migration from Africa to Europe dominate public and political debates across the continent. However, those fears remain largely exaggerated because African population movements increase at a slower pace than global migration growth and occur mainly within Africa, accordingto a report published in December 2025 by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP).

The report, titled “Mapping African Migration: Insights from UN DESA Data on Patterns, Trends, and Misconceptions,” draws on the latest global migration data from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), which provides the most comprehensive global migration dataset available. The report also uses the latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

Combined data show that international migrants totaled 304 million worldwide in 2024. Africans represented about 15% of that total, although Africa accounts for roughly 19% of the global population. Asia represented 40% of international migrants, while Europe accounted for 20%.

These figures show that most migrants worldwide do not originate from Africa. These figures also contradict perceptions of massive African migration and policies based on fears of an “invasion of African migrants.”

In 2024, about 25.1 million Africans lived in an African country other than their country of birth or nationality. That figure exceeded by about 21% the number of Africans living outside the continent, which stood at 20.7 million. These data confirm that African migration remains primarily intra-continental, and this long-standing trend has strengthened over time.

Several factors explain this trend. African travel costs less and poses fewer risks than intercontinental travel. Regional free movement agreements in West and East Africa facilitate cross-border mobility. At the same time, legal pathways to Europe, North America or Asia remain limited and costly for most Africans, while authorities maintain high visa rejection rates and offer few regular migration opportunities.

Most Forcibly Displaced Africans Stay Close to Home

The report also highlights that most Africans who flee war and conflict do not leave their country, region or continent.

At the end of 2024, war and violence had forcibly displaced about 123.2 million people worldwide. However, 73.5 million people, or 60% of the global forcibly displaced population, never crossed an international border and remained internally displaced within their home country.

Africa concentrates nearly half of the world’s displaced population. In 2024, nearly 87% of Africa’s 12.2 million refugees and asylum seekers, or 10.6 million people, lived within Africa. Only 1.6 million sought refuge outside the continent. These figures challenge the widespread assumption that forced displacement in Africa automatically translates into massive migration to Europe.

Moreover, the World Bank estimates that the overwhelming majority of people affected by future climate-related displacement scenarios will remain within their own regions.

SWP, which advises the German Bundestag and the federal government on foreign and security policy, urged European and other Northern policymakers to stop framing African migration as an imminent threat.

Policymakers should support refugee-hosting countries in Africa, expand legal migration channels and invest in reliable migration data rather than prioritize border control and deterrence measures, the think tank said.

Such measures would improve migration management. Countries such as Uganda, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Nigeria host millions of migrants and refugees, often with far fewer resources than wealthier states.

At the same time, African governments should continue strengthening regional and continental mobility frameworks in order to allow people to move safely and legally for work, education or family reasons.

Walid Kéfi