West Africa, particularly Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, has long experienced significant cross-border and internal mobility. While migration often provides economic opportunities, current trends in the region are increasingly associated with insecurity, terrorist threats, and mounting humanitarian and political challenges. The most recent data paint a sobering picture.

In April 2025, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released updated figures on population movements in the Central Sahel and Liptako-Gourma regions, and in other West African countries.

The Central Sahel encompasses parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, specifically central-eastern Mali, northern and eastern Burkina Faso, and southwestern to central-western Niger. The Liptako-Gourma region, which is shared by the same three countries and spans roughly 370,000 square kilometres, is a cross-border area of West Africa.

According to IOM, there were 3,315,545 displaced persons in the Central Sahel and Liptako-Gourma regions as of April 2025. Of this total, 2,670,331 were IDPs, representing 81% of the displaced population. The remaining 645,214 people were refugees, accounting for 19% of the total.

Again, according to IOM, Burkina Faso accounted for the largest share of IDPs, hosting 2,062,534 people (77%). This was followed by Mali with 378,363 people (14%) and Niger with 202,925 people (8%).

Beyond conflict-driven displacement, broader patterns of mobility persist across West and Central Africa. According to the Centre d’Etudes stratégiques de l’Afrique, approximately 70% of regional migration, whether temporary, seasonal or permanent, involves labour migration. Popular destinations include major economic hubs such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria. Côte d’Ivoire alone is home to over 8 million migrants from Burkina Faso, 402,000 from Mali and 112,000 from Guinea.

These migration patterns are fuelled by a combination of economic hardship and environmental degradation. Job losses linked to overfishing and unregulated fishing are particularly damaging. Such issues cost the region an estimated 0.26% of its GDP, undermining livelihoods and exacerbating poverty.In addition to these economic factors, climate change is emerging as a critical push factor. According to the environmental news site Mongabay, northern Ghana and Nigeria face some of the region’s most acute climate risks. Yet environmental degradation is rarely cited as a primary reason for migration — at least for now. However, Mongabay warns that climate-related pressures are expected to intensify sharply by 2050, particularly in these vulnerable areas.