Most of the world has seen an increase in terrorism - but deaths from terror attacks have decreased
- Terrorism-related deaths around the world are down for the second straight year.
- The number of countries experiencing terrorism-related deaths, however, rose in 2016.
Terrorism-related deaths around the world are down for the second straight year, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace's annual Global Terrorism Index.
"There was a 22% decrease to 25,673 deaths [in 2016] compared to the peak of terror activity in 2014 when over 32,500 people were killed," the IEP said in a statement.
Still, as the total number of terrorism-related deaths has decreased in the last two years, the number of countries experiencing terrorism-related deaths increased in 2016.
More countries experienced at least one terrorism-related death in 2016 than in any other year since 2001, with 77 countries affected - 11 more than in 2015.
94% of all terrorism-related deaths happened in the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia.
Four of the five countries most affected by terrorism - Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria - recorded an improvement. Nigeria saw an 80% reduction in terrorism-related deaths, as Boko Haram has been hit hard by the Multinational Joint Task Force.
Iraq was the only country of the five most affected by terrorism to record an increase in deaths, as ISIS increased suicide attacks to make up for lost territory.
The past year also had more terrorism-related deaths in OECD countries than in any other year since 1988.
Conversely, Central America and the Caribbean experienced only 12 deaths - less than 0.4% of the total number.
There may be a reason for the low number in those regions - 99% of all terrorism-related deaths in the past 17 years have happened in countries that have an ongoing conflict or high levels of political terror.
"Although these gains are encouraging, there are still serious areas of concern. The future stability of Syria and Iraq will play a critical role in determining the impact of terrorism in the years ahead," Steve Killelea, executive chairman of the IEP, said in the statement.
Here's a map of how terrorism spiked across the world in the past year:
