A record 65.6 million people are either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced across the globe, the UN refugee agency said, according to BBC News.

The estimated figure for the end of 2016 is an increase of 300,000 on 2015, according to its annual report.

It is a smaller increase than 2014-15, when the figure rose by five million.

But the UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi said it was still a disheartening failure of international diplomacy.

The UN said it hoped the record breaking numbers of displaced would encourage wealthy countries to think again: not just to accept more refugees, but to invest in peace promotion, and reconstruction.

Grandi also warned of the burden being placed on many of the world's poorest states, as some 84% of the world's displaced people are living in poor and middle income countries.

"How am I to ask countries with far less resources, in Africa, in the Middle East, in Asia, to take millions of refugees if the richer countries are refusing to do so?" he said.

The world's displaced people - in numbers

There are 65.6 million displaced people in the world - more people than live in the UK.

Of these:

22.5 million are refugees

40.3 million are displaced in their own country

2.8 million are seeking asylum

Where do the refugees come from?

Syria: 5.5 million*

Afghanistan: 2.5 million

South Sudan: 1.4 million

Who is hosting the refugees?

Turkey: 2.9 million

Pakistan: 1.4 million

Lebanon: 1 million

Iran: 979,4000

Uganda: 940,800

Ethiopia: 791,600

*Another 6.3 million Syrians are internally displaced