Ireland vs South Africa: Refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people

Ireland
1.29 people per 100,000 inhabitants
in 2024
South Africa
1.83 people per 100,000 inhabitants
in 2024
Ireland rank
163rd
South Africa rank
160th

Refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people over time

  • Ireland
  • South Africa
0255075100125196619952024

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 1.83 people per 100,000 inhabitants against 1.29 people per 100,000 inhabitants in Ireland, a difference of 0.54 people per 100,000 inhabitants.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.4 times Ireland's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 26 shared years of data; in 1994 it was South Africa ahead.

Ireland ranks 163rd and South Africa ranks 160th of 204 countries.

South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Ireland South Africa Difference Ahead
1990s 0.1393 people per 100,000 inhabitants 3.44 people per 100,000 inhabitants 3.3 people per 100,000 inhabitants South Africa
2000s 0.1847 people per 100,000 inhabitants 0.6391 people per 100,000 inhabitants 0.4543 people per 100,000 inhabitants South Africa
2010s 0.0867 people per 100,000 inhabitants 0.7753 people per 100,000 inhabitants 0.6886 people per 100,000 inhabitants South Africa
2020s 0.3296 people per 100,000 inhabitants 1.27 people per 100,000 inhabitants 0.945 people per 100,000 inhabitants South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people, Ireland or South Africa?
South Africa, at 1.83 people per 100,000 inhabitants against 1.29 people per 100,000 inhabitants in Ireland as of 2024.
What is the difference in refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people between Ireland and South Africa?
0.54 people per 100,000 inhabitants, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Ireland and South Africa?
26 years are reported by both, from 1994 to 2024.
How do Ireland and South Africa rank globally for refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people?
Ireland ranks 163rd and South Africa ranks 160th of 204 countries.
Where does this data come from?
UNHCR (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Ireland vs South Africa: Refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people. Statizoid, drawing on UNHCR (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 01 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/number-of-refugees-per-100000/ireland/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/number-of-refugees-per-100000/ireland/south-africa/">Ireland vs South Africa: Refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Refugees by country of origin per 100,000 people
Unit
people per 100,000 inhabitants
Source
UNHCR (2025); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
204 places, 7,190 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

People who fled their country of origin and are in need of international protection. This data is given per 100,000 people in their country of origin.