UNHCR_ZMB_2025_FDS_v2.1
Forced Displacement Survey, 2025
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Zambia | ZMB |
The Forced Displacement Survey (FDS) is UNHCR’s new flagship household survey programme designed to standardize, streamline, and build on the existing UNHCR survey landscape to produce high-quality and timely data on people forced to flee. The FDS is comparable across countries over time and aligned with international statistical standards. It has the purpose of providing actionable evidence to inform the government’s operational and policy-related data needs, as well as its humanitarian and development partners. As a multi-topic survey, the FDS collected household and individual level data on the socioeconomic characteristics and living conditions of targeted populations. Data was collected through face-to-face household interviews, where up to four household members aged 15 and above were interviewed: (1) the head of the household or a household member who was knowledgeable about the household; (2) a randomly selected household member who provided information about individual life experiences; (3) the caregiver of a randomly selected child under five years of age; and (4) a randomly selected woman who gave birth in the last two years.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Household and individual
v2.1: Edited, cleaned and anonymized data.
Please note that, due to the anonymization process, the dataset may differ slightly from figures reported in official sources.
The scope includes:
| Topic |
|---|
| Health |
| Livelihood and Social cohesion |
| Health and Nutrition |
| Food security |
| Water Sanitation Hygiene |
| Protection |
| Income Generation |
| Basic Needs |
| Emergency Shelter and NFI |
| Community Services |
| Education |
| Transportation |
| Reproductive Health |
| Mental Health and Psychosocial Support |
| Information Management |
| Name |
|---|
| UNHCR |
All households were selected randomly by either selection of the case (if sampled from registration frame) or selection of the building. In instances, in which a sampled building contains more than one household, one randomly selected household within the building is interviewed. All individuals within the household are further selected randomly and therefore represent respective underlying populations. 4,050 households, of which 2,300 were refugee households, 650 former refugees, and 1,200 households from the host community, were targeted based on expected credibility of results. A strict replacement and sample protocol were used to address the non-response or ineligibility of sampled households. The replacement sample was usually drawn together with the main sample, and selection into a replacement sample was randomized and strictly controlled. Replacements were made in cases of ineligibility, i.e., refugee households in host community sample as well as in cases of non-response. The final realised sample of the FDS in Zambia was 4,310 households. Among the sample, 2,373 are refugee households, 722 former refugee households, and 1,215 are host community households. The higher sample realization compared to the target is a result of the addition of additional out of settlement households interviewed in Lusaka but registered in Mayukwayukwa.
Results are estimated using adjusted sample weights to correctly represent the underlying population. Composite analytical weights were estimated, adjusting for unequal probability of selection of sampled units as well as structurally adjusting the geographic distribution of the sample to resemble the population. A nonresponse component was added to the composite weight estimation using the predicted likelihood of response for out of settlement refugees using data from the sampling frame for all sampled households, particularly to adjust for possibly non-random missingness due to low levels of contact among certain profiles of refugees due to the use of phones numbers and community outreach as the primary means of contact. Weights are calculated for two purposes: (1) calculation of nationally representative statistics by population group, refugees, former refugees, and hosts, and (2) calculation of statistics by sampling strata. Weights are calculated for two purposes: (1) calculation of nationally representative statistics by population group, refugees, former refugees, and hosts, and (2) calculation of statistics by sampling strata.
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2025-04-06 | 2025-08-31 |
| Name |
|---|
| UNHCR |
| Multicultural Insights |
UNHCR (2025). Zambia: Forced Displacement Survey, 2025. Accessed from: https://microdata.unhcr.org
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Curation team | UNHCR | microdata@unhcr.org |
UNHCR_ZMB_2025_FDS_v2.1
| Name |
|---|
| UNHCR |
2025-11-13