Official population statistics on people affected by forced displacement and statelessness are statistics that have been validated and endorsed by UNHCR under the authority of UNHCR's Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (SQAF) covering international displacement as well as internal displacement and statelessness.
The statistics measure the total number of people with a specific characteristic defined by a standard set of population types and demographic dimensions in a given geographic area during a specific point in time (stock) or range in time (flow).
For stock data, a person belongs to this population when they hold the specific characteristics at this reference date regardless of when they acquired this characteristic. As such, data cannot be summed across years.
For flow data, a person belongs to this population if they acquired the characteristic during the specific range in time. As such, data can be summed across years. This applies to all population types under the category of people who have reached a solution (SOL) including the following: Refugee returnees (RET), IDP returnees (RDP), Naturalized refugees (NAT), and Refugee resettlement arrivals and sponsorship pathways (RASP).
Data is compiled on a bi-annual basis, with publication cycles at mid and end year.