# UNHCR Refugee Data Scraper - Population & Displacement (`thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper`) Actor

Export official UNHCR refugee, asylum-seeker, displacement, demographic, solutions, UNRWA, and IDMC statistics with country and year filters. Built for research and data pipelines. No login, cookies, or API keys — clean JSON output and pay-per-result pricing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Education, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UNHCR Refugee Data Scraper

Export official refugee, asylum-seeker, displacement, demographic, durable-solutions, UNRWA, and IDMC statistics from UNHCR's public Refugee Data Finder API. The Actor uses keyless first-party JSON, bounded pagination, and no browser or proxy.

### What you get

- One normalized row per published country, year, population, demographic, or solutions record
- Origin and asylum country identifiers, population categories, totals, and source links
- Five selectable UNHCR datasets with consistent Apify JSON, CSV, and Excel exports
- A low-cost 256 MB HTTP workflow for scheduled research pipelines

### Output fields

Fields vary by `mode`. Common fields include `dataset`, `year`, `coo_id`, `coo_name`, `coa_id`, `coa_name`, population measures, demographic dimensions, solutions measures, `source_url`, and `source`.

### Example output

```json
{"dataset":"population","year":2025,"coo_name":"Afghanistan","coa_name":"Pakistan","refugees":1200000,"asylum_seekers":15000,"source_url":"https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/"}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| `mode` | Select `population`, `demographics`, `solutions`, `unrwa`, or `idmc`. |
| `yearFrom` | First reporting year to include. |
| `yearTo` | Last reporting year to include. |
| `originCode` | Optional UNHCR country-of-origin code. |
| `asylumCode` | Optional UNHCR country-of-asylum code. |
| `maxResults` | Maximum records saved and charged. |

### Use cases

Refugee dashboards, displacement trend analysis, humanitarian planning, newsroom research, country briefs, durable-solutions monitoring, and reproducible policy datasets.

### Limitations

Coverage and dimensions differ by dataset and reporting year. Missing values are not zero, and published historical records may be revised. Country filters require UNHCR codes. The Actor exports official aggregate data but does not interpret protection status or provide legal advice.

### Compared to alternatives

This Actor uses the official keyless API instead of browser scraping and starts at $2 per 1,000 saved records, with lower-volume tiers decreasing to $1 per 1,000. It supports five related datasets in one maintained integration. Try the [UNHCR Refugee Data Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper), browse [all Thirdwatch Actors](https://apify.com/thirdwatch), or read the [Thirdwatch UNHCR guide](https://thirdwatch.dev/actors/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper).

### FAQ

**Do I need an API key?** No. The source endpoints used by this Actor are public and keyless.

**What is charged?** Each saved dataset row is one PPE event. Empty queries save no records and incur no result charge.

Open the [input form](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper?tab=input) or review [recent runs](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper?tab=runs).

UNHCR statistics require contextual interpretation. Verify high-stakes conclusions against UNHCR methodology. This independent Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by UNHCR.

Last verified: 2026-07

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

UNHCR dataset to export.

## `yearFrom` (type: `integer`):

First reporting year to include.

## `yearTo` (type: `integer`):

Last reporting year to include.

## `originCode` (type: `string`):

Optional UNHCR country code for country of origin.

## `asylumCode` (type: `string`):

Optional UNHCR country code for country of asylum.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of records to save and charge.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "population",
  "yearFrom": 2020,
  "yearTo": 2025,
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/unhcr-refugee-data-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/9MDo4SvdLyAgx7QWa/builds/KkyCaz9Cl02vBjekk/openapi.json