MigrantoMigration trends in Syria
Middle East
8.9M people from Syria have built lives abroad. That's 36.2% of the country population, spread across 79 different countries
24.7M
Population
827K
Immigrants
8.9M
Emigrants
−8.1M
Outflow
Every 4th person born in Syria now lives abroad
The #6 largest source of emigrants worldwide
Top corridors
The largest migration routes in Syria
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
248.7K immigrants · 296.2K emigrants
2000
- The country became a destination — more people arriving than leaving
2005
- An accelerating exodus — the diaspora abroad grew by 43%
- Net migration doubled — the annual surplus reached 235.6K
- The diaspora abroad passed 500K people
2010
- Iraq overtook Palestine as the largest source of new arrivals
- Jordan replaced Saudi Arabia as the main destination for those leaving
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 106%
- Roughly 1 in 20 residents was now foreign-born
2015
- An accelerating exodus — the diaspora abroad grew by 372%
- Joined the world's 10 largest diasporas
- Became the biggest country by emigrants in the Middle East
- The country became a place of departure — more people leaving than arriving
2020
- Surge of departures to Germany — 483.4K people left
Today
- Since 1990: 578.3K more foreign-born residents and 8.6M more citizens living abroad
Data source: International Migrant Stock 2024 (UN DESA, Population Division)
Ask Migo
Tap a question — our AI assistant answers it in chat, with real migration data
Where to live?
Match a country to your priorities
Living in Syria
See the full country overview