U.S. refugee resettlement drops, falling below Canada in 2018 Number of resettled refugees, in thousands
The U.S. no longer leads the world in admitting refugees. Canada resettled more refugees than the U.S. did in 2018, marking the first time the U.S. did not lead the world on this measure since Congress created the nation’s refugee program in 1980. While Canada resettled 28,000 refugees in 2018 – similar to its total in 2017 – the U.S. resettled 23,000, down from 33,000 the year before and far below a recent high of 97,000 in 2016. The U.S. had previously admitted more refugees each year than all other countries combined.
U.S. refugee resettlement drops, falling below Canada  | in 2018  | Number of resettled refugees, in thousands  | 28 Canada  | 16  | 23 U.S.  | 0 13 Australia  | 6 UK  | 2004 2006 2008  | 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018  | Note: Nations shown are top four resettlement countries. Complete data for UK prior to  | 2004 is not available through the UNHCR Figures rounded to the nearest thousand.  | Source: Pew Research Center analysis of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees  | data, accessed June 12, 2019.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 