The Sahel is the Global Epicenter for Terrorism

Terrorism remains a persistent threat in many countries around the world. While there were fewer terrorism-related deaths and attacks in 2024 than in the previous year, the number of countries that experienced at least one attack rose from 58 to 68. Meanwhile, as conditions improved in 34 countries overall in 2024, they deteriorated in 45 others - the highest number since 2018.

This is according to the latest edition of the Global Terrorism Index, which measures the impact of terrorism around the world by tracking the number of incidents recorded each year. The index is published annually by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), a think-tank dedicated to promoting understanding of the economic, cultural and political factors that lead to peace.

Data compiled by the IEP show that the Sahel remained the epicenter of terrorism in 2024, marking the second year in a row. The region accounted for nearly half of all terrorism-related deaths last year at 3,885, which is also a ten-fold increase since 2019. Niger was the country to see the biggest increase in terrorism deaths year-on-year, rising by 94 percent to a total of 930 people.

While far less frequent and far less deadly, terrorist attacks have also surged in Western democracies, with the number of incidents in Europe having doubled in 2024 to a total of 67. The report states that lone actor terrorism is particularly on the rise in the West and that these acts are typically carried out by teenagers who have no formal ties to terrorist organizations but instead “become radicalized through online content, constructing personal ideologies that often blend conflicting viewpoints influenced via access to fringe forums, gaming environments, encrypted messaging apps and the dark web.”