The number of refugees, asylum seekers and forcibly displaced people reached 65.3 million by the end of 2015, according to a new report.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) say this is the highest-ever recorded level, and it is the first time the 60 million threshold has been passed.
There are now 14 times more people who have been forced to flee their homes than the entire population of Ireland.
Forced displacement escalated sharply in 2015, with the UNHCR saying that conflict, persecution and lack of political solutions has caused the increase in numbers.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said: "I hope that the message carried by those forcibly displaced reaches the leaderships. We need action, political action, to stop conflicts.
"The message that they have carried is: 'If you don't solve problems, problems will come to you'."
The new data shows that one person in every 113 worldwide is now forcibly displaced, with children making up 51% of the figures.
The UNHCR recorded 3.2 million people in industrialised countries who were awaiting asylum decisions, 21.3 million refugees worldwide, and 40.8 million people who were displaced in their country of origin.
Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia accounted for more than half of the world's refugees, with displacement figures rising 50% since 2011, the year the Syrian conflict began.
The year 2014 had already seen the highest number of displaced people, but that was topped by nearly 10%, according to the new Global Trends Report released to mark World Refugee Day.
Turkey took in the most people, with 2.5 million people hosted in the country, nearly all from neighbouring Syria.
Afghan neighbour Pakistan took in 1.6 million refugees, while Lebanon - also next to Syria - hosted 1.1 million.
More than a million people fled to Europe in 2015.
Germany received the highest number of asylum requests (441,900), increasing its refugee population by 46% from 2014.
The refugee agency has called on European leaders to do more to end the conflicts that have forced people from their homelands.
Mr Grandi said: "There is no plan B for Europe in the long run.
"Europe will continue to receive people seeking asylum. Their numbers may vary ... but it is inevitable."
Additional reporting from IRN
