Global Terrorism Index 2015 published

This is the third edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last years.

Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the report provides a detailed analysis of the changing trends in terrorism since 2000, for 162 countries.  It investigates the changing patterns of terrorism by geographic activity, methods of attack, organisations  involved and the national economic and political context.

Key findings 

• Terrorist activity increased by 80 per cent in 2014 to its highest recorded level. The largest ever year-on-year increase in deaths from terrorism was recorded in 2014, rising from 18,111 in 2013 to 32,685 in 2014.
• The number of people who have died from terrorist activity has increased nine-fold since the year 2000. Boko Haram overtakes ISIL to become the most deadly terrorist group in the world. Deaths attributed to Boko Haram increased by 317 per cent in 2014 to 6,644.
•  ISIL was responsible for 6,073 terrorist deaths. Terrorist activity is highly concentrated — five countries accounted for 78 per cent of deaths. Fifty-seven per cent of all attacks and 78 per cent of all deaths occurred in only five countries; Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.
• Almost 60 per cent of the countries covered in the GTI experienced no terrorist deaths in 2014. Ninety-five of the 162 countries covered in the study experienced no deaths from terrorism, while 67 countries experienced one or more deaths from terrorist activity.
• However, a majority of countries did experience a terrorist incident of some kind. Ninety-three countries experienced a terrorist incident in 2014, up from 88 in 2013.
• More countries than ever have high levels of terrorism. Countries suffering from more than 500 deaths increased by 120 per cent. In 2014, 11 countries had over 500 deaths while in 2013 only five did.
• Thirteen times as many people are killed globally by homicides than die in terrorist attacks. At least 437,000 people are victims of homicide each year, which is over 13 times more than the number of victims of terrorism.

Further information at Institute for Economics and Peace website.