Geneva, 8 November 2024 – Droughts displace young and poor pastoralists, while wildfires displace older urban residents with higher socio-economic status. A new study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows the wide range of demographic and socio-economic profiles affected by weather-related displacement worldwide.
This publication provides first-of-its-kind global insights into the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of communities facing weather-related displacement. With an estimated 218.6 million internal displacements caused by weather-related disasters over the past decade, the analysis fills a critical data gap by revealing detailed profiles of these populations, including their age, income, education, and livelihoods.
To date, global data on weather-related displacement has largely focused on total numbers, without capturing the detailed profiles of impacted communities. These detailed insights are crucial for humanitarian actors and decision-makers to allocate resources effectively, address diverse needs, and develop sustainable solutions for displaced populations.
The report reveals the disproportionate socio-economic vulnerabilities of populations in displacement settings. For instance, drought-displaced populations have income levels that are 82 per cent below the global average. These communities are typically young, with an average age of 18.1 years and a high proportion of children (43 per cent), are predominantly male (51.8 per cent), and have limited education, averaging 3 years of schooling. In contrast, wildfire-displaced communities tend to have higher education levels (12.6 years) and an older demographic, with an average age of 37.1 years and fewer children (19 per cent).
The analysis further highlights that different weather hazards impact different groups: Storm and flood displacements have disproportionally impacted farming communities, while drought displacements have strongly impacted pastoral communities, and while wildfire displacements mostly impacted urban communities.
The report also shows that populations living in areas affected by weather-related displacement are significantly younger (27.6 years on average) than the global average (30.8 years), with important implications for economic resilience and recovery across at-risk regions. This trend is even more pronounced in regions with limited resources and resilience programmes.
In areas where climate-induced displacement is exacerbated by resource scarcity, younger people are often at greater risk due to limited access to recovery strategies, basic services, and employment opportunities. The ripple effects of economic disruption and the loss of social cohesion can last for generations, with wide-ranging impacts on regional stability and growth.
Addressing these demographic realities with specific policies is crucial to provide targeted assistance to displaced people and build a foundation for recovery and future resilience. Ahead of the 29th session of the Conference of Parties (COP29), IOM urges policymakers, international agencies, and local governments to prioritize interventions that address the unique needs of communities affected by climate change, focusing on adaptation solutions for those who want to stay, and safe migration pathways for those on the move or who want to move.
As the severity and frequency of extreme weather events intensify in many parts of the world, IOM calls for collaborative efforts to ensure that affected regions are supported in building resilience, allowing affected populations to contribute to their communities without being hindered by the enduring effects of displacement.
IOM combined a global dataset of around 14,000 weather-related displacement events, compiled by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), with high-resolution maps of various demographic and socio-economic indicators. This approach enabled IOM to develop detailed profiles of populations living in areas impacted by displacement, providing the first-ever global-scale estimates on the characteristics of these communities.
