posts_gdocs: 1JThdVafiH5m-oocV60ise6Sxe6wOLWp3ijAmJKkUIjM
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| id | slug | type | content | published | createdAt | publishedAt | updatedAt | publicationContext | revisionId | breadcrumbs | markdown | title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1JThdVafiH5m-oocV60ise6Sxe6wOLWp3ijAmJKkUIjM | terrorism | topic-page | {
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"text": "Terrorism is the threat or use of violence to intimidate or coerce in the pursuit of political or ideological goals. It is usually understood to be done by non-state actors \u2014 individuals or organizations not part of the government.",
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"text": "Terrorism can take many forms, including bombings, armed assaults, hijackings, or hostage-taking. Its targets can also vary and can be aimed at civilians, state actors, or public infrastructure.",
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"text": "Globally, terrorist attacks and deaths are rare. But this varies a lot worldwide: in some countries, they are common and on the rise, while in others, there are few attacks or none.",
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"text": "Terrorism is also a big concern for people across the world. Attacks are rare, but often shocking, as they are meant to scare and subdue.",
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"text": "This page provides data and research on how common terrorism is, how it differs across countries, and whether it is becoming more or less frequent over time.",
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"text": "Globally, around 20,000 people died from terrorism in 2019.",
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"text": " can change a lot from year to year \u2014 in 2014, almost 45,000 people died in terrorist attacks, while in 2010, it was less than 8,000 \u2014 the average over the last decade was close to the 2019 number, at around 24,000 per year.",
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"text": "The GTD defines a terrorist attack as the threat or use of violence to achieve a political, economic, religious, or social goal through intimidation or coercion by a non-state actor. Learn more in ",
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"text": "Data for other causes of death comes from the Global Burden of Disease study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), published in 2019.",
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"text": "The countries most affected by terrorism can change frequently. In 2020, almost half of the people who died from terrorism were in Afghanistan, while in 2016, Iraq was the most affected, where a third of all terrorism deaths occurred.",
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1 | 2023-07-18 10:42:42 | 2023-08-30 08:05:41 | 2024-02-12 18:06:54 | listed | ALBJ4LsmbLBEzzTw933lYzfgXqHaOcaIaHZJPyCN7sZhYyZjaKaB6svWPYchlRndScwmWpFj2ytxP5h9BE4Lng | Terrorism is the threat or use of violence to intimidate or coerce in the pursuit of political or ideological goals. It is usually understood to be done by non-state actors — individuals or organizations not part of the government. Terrorism can take many forms, including bombings, armed assaults, hijackings, or hostage-taking. Its targets can also vary and can be aimed at civilians, state actors, or public infrastructure. Globally, terrorist attacks and deaths are rare. But this varies a lot worldwide: in some countries, they are common and on the rise, while in others, there are few attacks or none. Terrorism is also a big concern for people across the world. Attacks are rare, but often shocking, as they are meant to scare and subdue. This page provides data and research on how common terrorism is, how it differs across countries, and whether it is becoming more or less frequent over time. ## Key Insights on Terrorism ### Terrorism is a rare cause of death globally Globally, around 20,000 people died from terrorism in 2019. This meant it caused an estimated 1 in 2000 deaths that year. This is shown in the chart, which lays out what people died from. You can find terrorism in the bottom right-hand corner. Terrorism is not only a much rarer cause of death than non-communicable or infectious diseases; it is also a rare cause of _violent_ death: more than 4 times as many people die in armed conflicts, and more than ten times as many die from homicides.1 While the [number of terrorism deaths](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL) can change a lot from year to year — in 2014, almost 45,000 people died in terrorist attacks, while in 2010, it was less than 8,000 — the average over the last decade was close to the 2019 number, at around 24,000 per year. While terrorism is a rare cause of death globally, it is [more common in some countries and regions](https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism?insight=terrorism-affects-some-countries-much-more-than-others#key-insights). <Callout />  ### Terrorism affects some countries much more than others There are very large differences in the prevalence of terrorism across the world. Many countries experience few to no attacks and deaths. Others experience hundreds or thousands a year. The map shows deaths from terrorism around the world. The distribution of terrorist [attacks](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorist-attacks) looks similar. Most [attacks](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorist-attacks-by-region) happen in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. [Deaths](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths-by-region) are even more concentrated in some regions. In them, terrorism deaths can account for [several percent of all deaths](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-deaths-from-terrorism) in a year. The countries most affected by terrorism can change frequently. In 2020, almost half of the people who died from terrorism were in Afghanistan, while in 2016, Iraq was the most affected, where a third of all terrorism deaths occurred. <Callout /> <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths"/> ### Terrorism has increased in some parts of the world, but decreased in others Terrorism trends have been very different across the world’s regions. The chart shows terrorism deaths in various regions since 1970. Importantly, because the estimates are based on news reports, attacks, and deaths may be underreported in countries with sparser media, especially during early years. To help show the trends within regions, the axis scales between regions are not identical. But when comparing regions, you can see that terrorism deaths have been [much more common in some](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths) than in others. Global deaths from terrorism have been higher over the last decade than in the 1990s and 2000s – even when data collection had improved significantly. But they have fallen again in recent years. This global trend is driven by increased terrorism deaths in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there has been a _decline_ in deaths in more recent years in these regions, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. In Western Europe, deaths from terrorism have declined in recent decades. A few deadly attacks, however, have meant that deaths have varied a lot from year to year. Deaths from terrorism in North America are typically low – but the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 stand out. [South America](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths?tab=chart&facet=entity&uniformYAxis=0&country=~OWID_SAM) has seen a sustained decrease in terrorism. The global and regional trends are broadly similar if we look at [attacks](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorist-attacks?tab=chart&facet=entity&uniformYAxis=0&country=OWID_WRL~Middle+East+%26+North+Africa~South+Asia~Sub-Saharan+Africa~Western+Europe~OWID_NAM) instead of deaths. <Callout /> <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths?tab=chart&facet=entity&uniformYAxis=0&country=OWID_WRL~South+Asia~Middle+East+%26+North+Africa~Sub-Saharan+Africa~Western+Europe~OWID_NAM"/> ### Most terrorist attacks target private citizens, the military, and the police Terrorist attacks have different targets, and some are much more common than others. The chart shows the global number of terrorist attacks by the intended target. Most attacks target private citizens, the military and police, and other government institutions. Attacks on religious and educational institutions, non-government organizations, and journalists are rare. Attacks on tourists are very rare. This looks similar when we examine [deaths](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-from-terrorism-by-target) from terrorism by the intended target3: most people globally die in attacks that target private citizens or their property, the military, and the police. <Callout /> <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorist-attacks-by-target"/> ### Many people worry about terrorism, even in countries where it is rare In almost every country, concern about terrorist attacks is high. This is even true in countries where they are [rare](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/terrorism-deaths). The chart shows the share of respondents in representative surveys that worried “very much” or “a great deal” about a terrorist attack. In most countries, more than half of all people said they are worried about terrorism. In some, it was more than 80%. When we [compare](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-worried-about-terrorism-vs-deaths) the share of people worried about terrorism to how many people die from it, we see that concerns are also high in countries that rarely experience terrorism. This means that terrorism’s reach goes much farther than the people who experience attacks themselves or have loved ones get injured or die in them. The goal of terrorism is often to intimidate people. Surveys show that this is often successful. <Callout /> <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-people-worried-about-terrorism"/> ## Related research and writing * https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ADv-Q76wuEHYOuCCf4oI-pqU4rBM7FXo_kMGR267tm0/edit ,* https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UdKf375jChVw4SpFrhNaRJH0Ve7VDXtjFz_CP7mon54/edit ,* https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T_q6rSllqeGOp_LU8sw8zjhWDfggzhazAY9OI-01-Ig/edit ,* https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TB59aGXgPRW37lAjvFGrSSDBoH38URvk6XfbCHHVqMY/edit <AllCharts heading="Interactive Charts on Terrorism"/> <Callout title="Acknowledgements"/> Armed conflicts can include terrorist attacks, but they do not necessarily seek to coerce and intimidate or targets civilians. Homicides differ from terrorism because they are not committed in the pursuit of political or ideological goals. START (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism). 2021. [Global Terrorism Database (GTD) [Data set]](https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd). University of Maryland. Importantly, this includes bystanders who were not the intended target. So, an attack targeting members of the military may still kill more civilians who happened to be nearby. Inglehart, R., C. Haerpfer, A. Moreno, C. Welzel, K. Kizilova, J. Diez-Medrano, M. Lagos, P. Norris, E. Ponarin & B. Puranen (eds.). 2022. World Values Survey: All Rounds - Country-Pooled Datafile. Madrid, Spain & Vienna, Austria: JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. Dataset Version 3.0.0. doi:10.14281/18241.17 | Terrorism |