Daily Chart: Exodus from Syria

Jan 12th 2015, 14:22 by The Data Team

THE statistics on Syria's civil war are horrifying. Since March 2011 around 200,000 people have been killed and 6.5m people have become internally displaced. A new report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, published on January 7th, brought another grim figure: Syria has overtaken Afghanistan to become the biggest source of refugees in the world. More than 3m Syrians, or one in eight of its population, had fled the country by the end of June 2014, the most recent date for cross-country comparisons. In the six months since, another 300,000 have left.

This massive outflow is having a profound impact on the wider region. The vast majority of Syrian refugees have crossed into neighbouring countries; Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan are now among the five main host countries for refugees, according to the UNHCR. Turkey hosts the most Syrians, according to the latest figures, but relative to its size Lebanon bears the biggest burden. It harbours 1.2m Syrians in 1,700 locations in addition to its own population of 4.5m. In an attempt to slow the influx, since January 5th Lebanon has required all new refugees to apply for a visa at the border. In December the UN called on the international community to pledge 130,000 resettlement places for the most vulnerable people. Of rich countries, the most welcoming are Germany, which is home to around 29,000 Syrian refugees, and Sweden, with 18,000.

See the article here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/01/daily-chart-4?fsrc=scn/tw/te/dc/exodusfromsyria