2014

HIGHLIGHTS
MEASURING AND UNDERSTANDING
THE IMPACT OF TERRORISM

GET THE FACTS ON TERRORISM

All attacks since 2000 scaled

by number of fatalities
Worst attacks in 2013

LAST YEAR:

9,814

TERRORIST ATTACKS
IN 87 COUNTRIES

17,958

82%

PEOPLE KILLED IN
TERRORIST ATTACKS

KILLED IN TERRORIST
ATTACKS WERE IN
JUST FIVE COUNTRIES.

The Global Terrorism Index, developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace, is a comprehensive measure
of the direct impact of terrorism in 162 countries in terms of lives lost, injuries, property damage and number
of incidents. It provides the public, civil society and policymakers with the evidence-base to better
understand the patterns, drivers and tactics behind terrorist activity. By doing so, it aims to deepen our
collective understanding of the social, economic and political conditions that lead to this form of violence.

DEATHS FROM TERRORISM

TERRORISM IS ON THE RISE: 17,958

PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN TERRORIST
ATTACKS LAST YEAR; THATS 61%
MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

The number of countries that experienced 50 or more deaths as

a result of terrorism also increased by 60% since last year.
Since 2000, there have been over 48,000 terrorist attacks that
have killed over 107,000 people. There are five times more
people killed in terrorist attacks today than there were in 2000.

Iraq Prime Minister appointed.

Usama bin Ladin killed.

Syrian Civil War begins.

Rest of the world

95%

September 11. War begins

in Afghanistan.

OECD

Bhutto assasinated in Pakistan.

War begins in Iraq.

Arab Uprising.

20,000

Global total
Iraq,
Afghanistan,
Pakistan,
Nigeria & Syria

NUMBER OF DEATHS

16,000
12,000

ISIL capture large parts

of Syria and Iraq

8,000
4,000

Rest of the world

0
2000

5%

Precursor of ISIL begin to launch

attacks in Syria and Iraq.

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

YEAR
Source: GTD Notes: The dashed part of the trend line represents a change in data collection methodology for terrorist acts. The methodology change did not materially
alter the results as the increase in terrorism is verifiable, see methodological note in Appendix C for further details.

Around 5% of all 107,000 terrorist fatalities

since 2000 have occurred in OECD countries.
In 2013 the eight OECD countries that recorded
deaths from terrorism were Turkey, Mexico,
the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece,
Israel, Czech Republic and Chile.

FOUR GROUPS WERE RESPONSIBLE

FOR THE MAJORITY OF TERRORISM
FATALITIES FROM 2000-2013.
12185
Total, 2000-2013

9115
8585

Attacks

66%

Al-Qaida

8763

8081

Injuries

Boko
Haram

3440

2757
1089
Al-Qaida

750
Taliban

Taliban

Deaths

ISIL

3111
1759

Boko Haram

In 2013, these 4 groups were responsible

for 66 per cent of all deaths from claimed
terrorist attacks.

492
ISIL

CAUSES OF TERRORISM
While drivers of terrorist activity are often complex, countries
with higher levels of terrorism were found to have three
statistically significant factors:
Greater social hostilities between different ethnic,
religious and linguistic groups, lack of intergroup
cohesion and high levels of group grievances.

ANGOLA
BANGLADESH
BURUNDI
CENTRAL
AFRICAN REP.
COTE DIVOIRE
ETHIOPIA
IRAN
ISRAEL
MALI
MEXICO
MYANMAR
SRI LANKA
UGANDA

Presence of state sponsored violence such as

extrajudicial killings, political terror and gross human
rights abuses.
Higher levels of other forms of violence including deaths
from organised conflict, likelihood of violent
demonstrations, levels of violent crime and perceptions
of criminality.

COUNTRIES AT RISK

TERRORISM DOESNT ARISE

ON ITS OWN; BY IDENTIFYING
THE FACTORS ASSOCIATED
WITH IT, LONG TERM POLICIES
CAN BE IMPLEMENTED TO
IMPROVE THE UNDERLYING
ENVIRONMENT THAT
NURTURES TERRORISM.
STEVE KILLELEA, EXECUTIVE
CHAIRMAN, INSTITUTE FOR
ECONOMICS AND PEACE

Based on research of the drivers of terrorist activity, IEP has

identified 13 countries that face a greater risk of terrorist
activity from current levels.
These countries either have significant ongoing conflicts which
give rise to terrorist activity or notable deficits in terms of
social hostilities between different ethnic, religious and
linguistic groups, gross human rights abuses by the state, or
high levels of violence and poor rule of law.

Military force

7%

Achieved goals

10%

HOW TERRORIST GROUPS END

Politicisation

43%

Since the 1960s the majority of terrorist groups ended by either joining the
political process and becoming a legitimate political party, or were ended
by policing and intelligence agencies breaking up the group. Military force
in of itself was rarely responsible for ending terrorist groups.

Policing

40%

Source: RAND

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www.visionofhumanity.org
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GLOBAL
GLOBAL
TERRORISM
TERRORISM
INDEX, 2014
INDEX, THE
2014
CAPTURING
IMPACT
OF
TERRORISM
CAPTURING
THE IMPACT
OF TERRORISM

www.
.org
www.
See the full list of ranks and explore the data on.org
the

interactive map. Click on a country to see the impact of

See the full list of ranks and explore the data on the
terrorism, compare two or more countries and use the
interactive map. Click on a country to see the impact of
timeline to see changes in the terrorism since 2002.
terrorism, compare two or more countries and use the
The Global Terrorism
is developed
by theterrorism
Institute for Economics
and Peace,
timeline
to seeIndex
changes
in the
since 2002.

an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the worlds

focus
to peace
as a positive,
tangible
measure
of humanand
wellbeing
The Global
Terrorism
Index isachievable
developedand
by the
Institute
for Economics
Peace,
and
progress. Fornon-partisan,
more information:
info@economicsandpeace.org
an independent,
non-profit
think tank dedicated to shifting the worlds
focus to peace as a positive, achievable and tangible measure of human wellbeing
and progress. For more information: info@economicsandpeace.org

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