Terrorism remains a serious concern around the world. 

The global landscape of terrorism has been shifting, with some regions experiencing rising violence even as overall attacks or deaths may fall. 

For example, the number of countries that suffered at least one terrorist attack rose from 58 to 66 in 2024 – the highest number in several years. 

This shows that while certain countries have become safer, new areas are encountering terrorist incidents. 

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) was created to measure and track these patterns. 

It provides a yearly snapshot of where terrorism has the greatest impact and how this impact changes over time.

It gives readers a clearer understanding of the global terrorism threat.

What is the Global Terrorism Index?

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is an annual report that ranks countries according to the impact of terrorism. 

It is published by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), an independent think tank.

It covers 163 countries, encompassing 99.7% of the world’s population. 

The index provides a comprehensive summary of key global terrorism trends and patterns since 2000. 

Each country is assigned a composite score from 0 to 10, where 0 means no impact of terrorism and 10 represents the highest possible impact. 

A higher Global Terrorism Index score indicates that a country has experienced more terrorism in terms of frequency and severity of attacks. 

By compiling and comparing these scores, the GTI systematically ranks nations by how much they are affected by terrorist activity. 

The GTI has been produced for over a decade and has become a widely cited resource for understanding the geographical distribution of terrorism. 

What Affects Global Terrorism Index Scores?

A country’s Global Terrorism Index score is determined by a combination of factors capturing the frequency and severity of terrorist acts. 

The index uses several key indicators: the number of terrorist incidents in a given year, the number of fatalities caused by terrorism, the number of people injured, and the extent of property damage from attacks. 

Each of these indicators is weighted based on its relative importance. 

Fatalities carry the greatest weight in the scoring, reflecting the severe impact of loss of life. Injuries and incidents have lower weights, and property damage is also factored in (with a weight ranging from 0 to 3 depending on the severity of damage). 

This means that a single attack causing many deaths will raise a country’s score more than an incident causing injuries but no deaths.

The GTI methodology also recognises that the effects of terrorism persist over time. 

To account for the lingering psychological and social impact, the index uses a five-year weighted average. 

For example, terrorist events from the latest year influence the score most strongly, while incidents from four or five years ago contribute less. 

This approach ensures that a country’s score reflects not just one bad year or an outlier event, but the broader trend in terrorism over several years.

After calculating the weighted sum of incidents, casualties and damage, the result is scaled to the GTI’s ten-point system for easy comparison across countries. 

Top 5 Global Terrorism Index Scores 2025

The Global Terrorism Index 2025 report (reflecting data from 2024) reveals that terrorist activity is highly concentrated in certain regions. 

Notably, five of the ten countries with the worst terrorism impact are in the Sahel region of Africa. 

This region has become the global epicentre of terrorism, accounting for over half of all terrorism-related deaths in 2024.

The top 5 highest scores for 2025 are:

1. Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso has the highest Global Terrorism Index score in the 2025 index, making it the country most impacted by terrorism for the second year in a row. 

Despite a 21 per cent decline in terrorism deaths in 2024 compared to the previous year, the country still suffered a staggering 1,532 fatalities from terrorist attacks. 

This figure alone represents roughly a fifth of all terrorism deaths globally, underscoring how severe the situation in Burkina Faso remains. 

The violence is largely concentrated in the Sahel region of the country, and militant groups are very active. 

A jihadist insurgent group known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) was responsible for the deadliest single attack in Burkina Faso’s Centre-Nord region.

This attack claimed an estimated 200 to 600 lives in one incident. 

While the slight drop in deaths offers a glimmer of hope, it continues to face a grave security crisis.

2. Pakistan

Pakistan is ranked as the second most impacted country in the GTI 2025, after experiencing a sharp deterioration in its security situation. 

In 2024, terrorism-related deaths in Pakistan jumped by 45 per cent. 

This is the largest year-on-year increase the country has seen in over a decade. 

This surge brought the annual fatalities to 1,081, pushing Pakistan’s GTI score upward significantly. 

The main driver of the violence has been the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an extremist militant group. 

TTP alone was responsible for over half of all terrorism deaths in Pakistan during the year. 

Additionally, other militant organisations such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) escalated their activities. 

For example, a deadly suicide bombing at a railway station in Balochistan province killed 25 people. 

The increase in attacks and deaths has reversed years of relative improvement and has placed Pakistan near the very top of the global terrorism rankings once again.

3. Syria

Syria climbed to third place in the Global Terrorism Index 2025 rankings, reflecting the country’s ongoing struggles with conflict and terrorist violence. 

In 2024, Syria moved up two spots on the index to become the third most impacted country. 

Although the intensity of Syria’s civil war has reduced compared to its peak in the mid-2010s, the nation continues to suffer frequent terrorist incidents. 

This is especially true in certain regions. 

Ongoing instability in the northwest (particularly the Idlib region) has allowed militant groups to keep operating. 

The jihadist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) remains active in Syria. 

These groups orchestrate bombings, assassinations, and other attacks, contributing to persistent insecurity. 

The fact that Syria still ranks so high indicates that terrorism and insurgency are far from resolved after years of conflict.

4. Mali

Mali is fourth on the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, remaining one of the world’s most terrorism-affected countries. 

In 2024, Mali recorded 604 deaths from 201 terrorist attacks, which actually marked a 21 per cent reduction in fatalities compared to the previous year. 

This slight improvement suggests that the situation in Mali has stabilised a little, but the country’s GTI score is still very high. 

Mali has been fighting a jihadist insurgency for years, particularly in its northern and central regions. 

The group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) is the most prominent terrorist organisation operating in Mali. 

Despite a decrease in the number of attacks, these groups continue to exploit Mali’s political instability and security gaps. 

The country has undergone military coups and delays in returning to civilian governance, which have weakened its ability to combat terrorism effectively.

5. Niger

Niger experienced one of the most alarming deteriorations in 2024, propelling it to fifth place on the GTI 2025 list. 

Terrorism deaths in Niger nearly doubled, increasing by 94 per cent compared to the previous year. 

The sharp rise in violence has caused Niger’s score to worsen dramatically, giving it its worst ranking in the GTI since the index began. 

Most of the attacks occurred in areas bordering Mali and Burkina Faso, indicating a spillover of jihadist violence across the Sahel region’s frontiers. 

Militant groups linked to both Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have been active in Niger, carrying out deadly raids and massacres. 

The instability in Niger in 2024 was also compounded by political upheaval, which may have undermined counter-terrorism efforts and allowed terrorist groups to gain ground.

Countries That Have Improved Their Global Terrorism Index Scores

While the Global Terrorism Index highlights countries with severe terrorism problems, it also shows that some nations have achieved significant improvements. 

In the 2024 index (covering 2023), 34 countries recorded better (lower) GTI scores than the year before. 

This means terrorism’s impact in those places diminished.

Iraq

One of the most dramatic examples is Iraq. 

Over the past decade, Iraq has seen a remarkable turnaround. 

Terrorism deaths in Iraq have plummeted by 97% since 2012. 

In 2007, during the height of sectarian violence and the insurgency, thousands of Iraqis were being killed by terrorism. 

But by 2023, the annual number of terrorism deaths in Iraq had fallen to just 69. 

This improvement is the largest drop recorded by any country. 

It is largely due to the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and the restoration of relative stability in most parts of the country.

Nigeria

Other countries have also improved over time. 

Nigeria, for instance, recorded a high point of terrorism around 2014 – 2015 due to Boko Haram’s activities. 

However, since then the group has been weakened and Nigeria’s annual death toll from terrorism has decreased from its peak (though it fluctuates year to year). 

Global

Globally, deaths from terrorism have dropped drastically since 2014. 

The fall in terrorism has been especially pronounced in countries like Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, which were once the epicentres of terror violence. 

These positive trends show that through a combination of military, political, and social efforts, countries can recover from even severe levels of terrorism. 

However, as the GTI data reminds us, such improvements can be fragile and require sustained attention to maintain.

Countries That Have Increased Their Global Terrorism Index Scores

On the other hand, the GTI data make it clear that not all countries are moving in the right direction. 

Many have seen their terrorism problems worsen. 

In the most recent report, 45 countries had higher (worse) GTI scores in 2024 compared to the previous year.

The largest number of nations to deteriorate in a single year since 2018.

Among these, a few stand out for significant increases in terrorism. 

Niger

As discussed earlier, Niger experienced the most dramatic surge. 

After a period of relative calm, Niger’s situation deteriorated sharply in 2024. 

Terrorism deaths rose drastically and the country’s ranking fell into the worst five globally. 

This shows how quickly terrorism can escalate in a fragile state. 

Political turmoil (such as Niger’s 2023 coup) and the spread of violence from neighbouring conflicts contributed to this spike. 

Niger’s example is a stark reminder that gains against terrorism can be rapidly reversed if underlying issues of security and governance aren’t addressed.

Pakistan

Pakistan is another country where the terrorism threat has recently grown. 

2024 was Pakistan’s deadliest year for terrorism in over a decade, with over 1,000 fatalities recorded. 

The resurgence of groups like TTP has undone some of the improvements Pakistan had made in the 2010s.

Myanmar

Similarly, Myanmar saw an increase in its terrorism score in earlier editions of the index due to internal conflict. 

Africa

Parts of Africa have also seen new or expanded terrorist activity. 

For example, a coastal West African country like Togo, which historically had very few attacks, faced its worst year on record for terrorism in 2024. 

Togo’s emergence in the terrorism data reflects how violence from the Sahel is spreading southward beyond its traditional hotspots.

Key Takeaways

You should now have more of an understanding of the Global Terrorism Index.

The Global Terrorism Index provides a critical overview of how terrorism is impacting countries worldwide. 

By quantifying the effects of terrorism, the GTI allows us to see both where the threat is most severe and how it is changing over time.

The 2025 index highlights a complex picture.

On one hand, global terrorism deaths remain well below their mid-2010s peak, and some countries have seen major improvements in security. 

On the other hand, terrorism is far from defeated and has even spread to new regions, with the Sahel in Africa now accounting for over half of all terrorism deaths.

A small number of countries suffer the majority of attacks and casualties, with ten countries accounting for 87% of all terrorism deaths in 2023. 

Crucially, the GTI underscores the strong link between broader conflict and terrorism: over 90% of all terrorist attacks and almost 98% of terrorism deaths occur in countries embroiled in violent conflict. 

This suggests that addressing underlying wars, insurgencies, and instability is essential to curbing terrorism.

The index’s findings are therefore an important tool for policymakers, security experts, and communities. 

By examining the data and trends, stakeholders can identify where terrorism is worsening and what factors contribute to these changes. 

The ultimate aim is to inform a positive and practical debate on how to respond to terrorism.