Global terrorism index 2023

The global terrorism index systematically ranks countries of the world according to their terrorist activity. In 2023, Burkina Faso ranked first on the global terrorism index with a score of 8.57 points, making it the country most affected by terrorism on Earth. Israel ranking second is explained by the Hamas attack in October 2023, which killed over 1,200 people and caused the outbreak of the war in Gaza. In 2022, the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered from the highest number of terrorist attacks and the highest number of fatalities from terrorist attacks.

Additional information on the Global terrorism index

The Global Terrorism Index is an annual ranking produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. As even the definition of terrorism is hotly debated, it is essential to highlight that the methodologies used to measure terrorism are also contested. The Global Terrorism Index ranks 163 countries on four indicators weighted over five years. These four factors are: the number of terrorist incidents per year, the number of fatalities caused by terrorists per year, the number of injuries caused by terrorists per year, and total property damage caused by terrorism per year.

Terrorist groups

Terrorism comes in a number of forms from a variety of groups with differing intentions. Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan in 2021 can help explain the high ranking of Afghanistan, but the country has been plagued by terrorist activities for many decades. The operation of numerous groups alongside or in conflict with the Islamic State and the Taliban have led to Afghanistan falling victim to a high number of attacks. Moreover, IS now operates across several countries and regions, including in Burkina Faso.

Economic damages

On the non-human casualty side of the index, property loss is an important metric as loss of shelter or livelihood has a long lasting impact on those who survive the attack physically unharmed. The high percentage of attacks in advanced economies in the most expensive terrorist attacks by insured property loss demonstrates the limitation of using comparative financial data. Although the insured losses are lower in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, this does not suggest the impact of property loss is lower. The instability in these countries often makes insurance unaffordable for most citizens.