Terrorism worsens as global conflicts drive risk of new wave

Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Apr 2024

International think-tank the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) has launched the 11th annual edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) in March 2024.

The GTI is a comprehensive resource on global terrorism trends including the number of incidences, fatalities, injuries and hostages and combines it with conflict and socio-economic data to provide a holistic picture of terrorism.

Pakistan recorded the most terrorist incidents of any country, with 490 attacks that resulted in 689 deaths. This is the fourth successive year where both deaths and incidents have increased in Pakistan.

The major findings of the Index include:

Deaths caused by terrorism increased by 22% to 8,352, the highest level since 2017.
The number of terrorist incidents fell by 22% to 3,350 and number of countries reporting an incident fell to 50. However, terrorist attacks are becoming more deadly.
In 2023, the US accounted for 76% of terrorism-related deaths in Western democracies, amid a 15-year low in incidents.
The epicentre of terrorism has shifted out of the Middle East and into the Central Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, which now accounts for over half of all deaths from terrorism.
Burkina Faso suffered the worst impact from terrorism, with deaths increasing by 68% despite attacks decreasing by 17%.
Iraq recorded the largest improvement in the last decade with deaths from terrorism falling by 99% since the 2007 peak, to 69 in 2023.
The impact of terrorism has become increasingly concentrated, with ten countries accounting for 87% of total terrorism-related deaths.
Over 90% of terrorist attacks and 98% of terrorism deaths in 2023 occurred in conflict zones, underscoring the strong link between conflict and terrorism.

Despite the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, the number of terrorist incidents fell in the Middle East, along with North Africa, Europe and North America. The central Sahel region has conclusively overtaken the Middle East as terrorism’s epicentre with Islamic State (IS) and Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen, a franchise of Al-Qaeda, being the most active terrorist organisations. M

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