Global Terrorism Index 2016

Deaths from terrorism in OECD countries increased by 650 per cent last year despite a marked fall globally as Islamic State (IS)and Boko Haram militants suffered military defeats at home but committed more attacks abroad, said the Global Terrorism Index 2016 on  Wednesday. Worldwide, there had been 29,376 deaths caused by terrorism in 2015, a drop of 10 per cent and the first fall in four years, as action against Islamist militants IS in Iraq and Boko Haram in Nigeria cut the numbers killed there by a third, says the report.  The comprehensive study analysed the impact of terrorism for 163 countries, covering 99.7 per cent of the world’s population. The global economic impact of terrorism was assessed to be $89.6 billion. 

It is important to note that while the international community’s focus has intensified on ISIL and its activities in Iraq and Syria, last year recorded the deadliest year for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Both terrorist deaths and battlefield deaths committed by the Taliban significantly increased in 2015. Terrorism increased 29 per cent to 4,502 deaths and battlefield deaths increased 34 per cent to over 15,000.

Here are some key findings of the report:

• The five countries that accounted for 72 per cent of all deaths from terrorism in 2015 are Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria 

• ISIL surpassed Boko Haram as the deadliest terrorist group in 2015

• Iraq is suffering the highest economic impact from terrorism, reaching 17 per cent of its GDP in 2015

• Tourism’s contribution to GDP is twice as large in countries with no terrorist attacks

• The total economic impact of violence reached $13.6 trillion in 2015, or 13.3 per cent of global GDP 

• The economic resources devoted to peacekeeping and peacebuilding represent two per cent of the economic impact of armed conflict and terrorism

• ISIL-affiliated groups undertook attacks in 28 countries in 2015, up from 13 countries in 2014

Sources: START GTD, IEP, GTI 2016 report