Mozambique was the Sub-Saharan African nation that suffered the largest number of internal displacements caused by natural disasters during 2025 according to the Global Report on Internal Displacement 2026, which was published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and cited in multiple media reports.

The IDMC, which is a non-governmental organisation and part of the Norwegian Refugee Council, noted that close to 2.9 million disaster-related displacements occurred across Sub-Saharan Africa last year, with 669,000 of these taking place in Mozambique.

The Southern African nation’s eastern coastline experiences annual exposure to cyclones between October and March, which frequently results in repeated instances of displacement. The 2024–2025 season was particularly harsh. According to the report, “high-intensity cyclones in rapid succession triggered 826,000 movements in 2025,” a figure which is the second-highest recorded in the past decade.

Multiple major cyclones struck the country early in 2025. Cyclone Chido caused over 536,000 displacements. Just weeks later, Cyclone Dikeledi led to 167,000 displacements in Nampula province in early January. This was followed by Cyclone Jude in March, which displaced a further 493,000 individuals, many of whom were already affected by the earlier storms. 

The research highlighted that these repeated weather-related shocks occurred while the country was still recovering from the continuing effects of a 2024 drought.

Beyond displacements caused by disasters, Mozambique recorded 339,000 internal movements in 2025 due to the persistent insurgency in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The IDMC report stated that after a considerable drop in conflict-related displacements in Cabo Delgado between June 2024 and June 2025, fighting flared up again during the latter half of the year. Notably, one third of all conflict-related displacements recorded throughout 2025 — the highest yearly total since 2020 — happened solely in November.

More recently, the European Union reported that armed attacks in the Cabo Delgado districts of Ancuabe and Montepuez in late April and early May caused at least 11,000 people to be displaced. 

Data from the European Commission’s humanitarian office (ECHO) indicates that between April 20 and May 3, Cabo Delgado experienced 15 violent incidents. Seven of these incidents involved groups linked to Islamic State, contributing to a total death toll of 6,542 since 2017.