section_path: Humanitarian impact/Refugees
section_name: Refugees
paragraph_text: Refugees
  
  As of February 2025, over 12.3 million residents of Sudan have been displaced due to the fighting. The United Nations said that the conflict had produced more than 8.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), while more than 3.5 million had fled the country. This makes Sudan the largest host of IDPs globally. The International Organization for Migration estimated that 31% of IDPs originated from Khartoum state, followed by 18% from South Darfur state and 15% from North Darfur state. In November 2023, the UN said the conflict created the largest child displacement crisis in the world. 53% of people who have been internally displaced due to the conflict are children.
  
  Of those who fled abroad, more than 160,000 were Masalit who fled to Chad to escape ethnically based attacks by the RSF and allied militias. Fighting between the SAF and the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) reportedly displaced more than 35,000 people in Blue Nile State alone, with 3,000 fleeing to Ethiopia, while more than 83,000 were displaced in South Kordofan. As of August, more than 400,000 people had fled to Chad, making it the largest single destination of refugees from the conflict, while others fled to other neighboring countries such as the Central African Republic, Egypt, and South Sudan.
  
  Criticism was levelled at diplomatic missions operating in Sudan for their slow response in helping Sudanese visa applicants whose passports were left behind in embassies following their closure during evacuation efforts, preventing them from leaving the country.
  
  The UN estimated that economic activity in Sudan fell by more than a third during the first three weeks of the conflict. In July, Sudanese economists estimated the total amount of damage brought by the conflict at $9 billion, or an average of $100 million per day, while the value of property and goods looted was estimated at another $40 billion, with the most affected areas being Khartoum and South Darfur. The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Sudanese pound in the black market rose to SDG730 in September, while it reached SDG625 at the official rate. This later reached SDG1250 in February 2024. The formal economy was described as being in a "near standstill". Gold production was also reduced to just 2 tons from the previous year's output of 18 tons. Sudanese minister for minerals Mohamed Bashir Abu Nammu accused the RSF of looting around 15 tons of silver and 1,273 kilograms of gold from the Sudan Gold Refinery at the start of the conflict.
  
  In February 2024, finance minister Gibril Ibrahim said that the Sudanese economy had contracted by 40 per cent in 2023 due to the fighting, with an additional decline of 28 per cent expected in 2024. He added that state revenues had also decreased by 80 per cent. Sudanese port authorities estimated that international trade had fallen by 23 per cent in 2023. The Sudanese finance ministry was unable to set a national budget for 2023 or 2024 and stopped issuing quarterly reports. It also raised the exchange rate for imports and exports from SDG650 to SDG950. The fighting also rendered more than 60 per cent of Sudan's agricultural land out of service, according to Fikra for Studies and Development.
  
  In May 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that both the RSF and SAF were using revenue from the sale of gum arabic, which is primarily grown in Sudan, to finance their operations.
  
  The suspension of USAID funding in 2025 significantly reduced cash assistance, which grassroots emergency response groups relied on to sustain food kitchens. The crisis also impacted neighboring countries, with over two million Sudanese refugees facing deteriorating conditions.