U.N. Says Roughly Ten Million Displaced Inside Sudan, Children Hardest Hit

U.N. agencies said on December 11, 2025 that roughly 10 million people have been displaced inside Sudan as the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces enters a third year. The figure, which the agencies provided to regional press, also notes that roughly half of the internally displaced are children, underscoring the depth of the crisis facing education and nutrition networks.

Numbers from humanitarian actors and U.N. bodies differ because they reflect different dates and scopes. The U.N. counted 5.6 million internally displaced people on December 23, 2023, including 1.7 million displaced from Khartoum alone. By April 2025 some U.N. and NGO updates produced higher totals, with one U.N. Human Rights Council summary reported as saying “nearly 13 million” people had been forced to flee their homes, while an April emergencies summary put internal displacement at 8.6 million. A November 2025 compilation gave a combined figure of more than 11.7 million people uprooted, disaggregated into about 7.26 million IDPs, roughly 270,000 refugees who had relocated within Sudan, and 4.25 million people who had crossed borders or returned, of whom 3.39 million were newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers and 851,000 were returnees.

Geographic patterns have concentrated displacement pressures in and around Khartoum while also spilling into neighbouring states. Refugees have flowed into Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia, adding strain to fragile host economies and public services. Before the 2023 fighting Sudan hosted about 1 million refugees from elsewhere, leaving limited absorption capacity.

Humanitarian demand has surged. Aid groups have estimated that more than 30 million people are now in need of assistance, a jump from about 15.8 million before the April 2023 escalation. Funding has not kept pace. Regional appeals were reported at less than 10 percent funded in recent assessments, leaving critical deficits in food, health and shelter programs. Aid officials have also tracked acute food insecurity and localized famine. One aid official quoted by media noted that there were 10 areas confirmed to be suffering famine last year but “now there are only two,” and that around 3.4 million people previously at crisis levels are no longer classified as such in parts where families have begun returning.

Estimates of fatalities vary widely, with some reporting more than 150,000 deaths and other assessments suggesting higher tolls. The divergent figures reflect both the chaos of conflict zones and the incomplete data environment.

The economic implications are acute. Large scale displacement disrupts planting cycles, reduces labor supply in key agricultural states, curtails exports and drives up import needs, pressuring foreign exchange reserves and inflation. Host countries face rising fiscal burdens for services and social transfers, increasing the risk of regional economic contagion. Donor shortfalls and fragmented reporting hinder policy responses that require coordinated financing, safe humanitarian access and support for host communities.

Policymakers face a narrow window to stabilize conditions, scale funding and harmonize data so that relief can target nutrition, child protection and livelihoods. Without a significant increase in aid and a ceasefire that allows reconstruction and returns, the displacement crisis risks becoming a protracted drag on Sudan and the wider region for years.