Terrorism2019: Global Terrorism Overview

Published 10 July 2020

The new  Global Terrorism Overview highlights trends in worldwide terrorism in 2019. In 2019, there were nearly 8,500 terrorist attacks around the world, which killed more than 20,300 people, including 5,460 perpetrators and 14,840 victims. 2019 was the fifth consecutive year of declining global terrorism since terrorist violence peaked in 2014 at nearly 17,000 attacks and more than 44,000 total deaths. The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide decreased 50 percent between 2014 and 2019, and the total number of deaths decreased 54 percent.

During a webinar 9 July, START released a new Global Terrorism Overview which highlights trends in worldwide terrorism in 2019. In 2019, there were nearly 8,500 terrorist attacks around the world, which killed more than 20,300 people, including 5,460 perpetrators and 14,840 victims. 2019 was the fifth consecutive year of declining global terrorism since terrorist violence peaked in 2014 at nearly 17,000 attacks and more than 44,000 total deaths. The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide decreased 50 percent between 2014 and 2019, and the total number of deaths decreased 54 percent.

Here are the Overview’s highlights:

In 2019, there were nearly 8,500 terrorist attacks around the world, which killed more than 20,300 people, including 5,460 perpetrators and 14,840 victims. The patterns described here provide a general overview. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) says it encourages readers to explore the Global Terrorism Database and consider contextual information for a comprehensive assessment.1

▪ 2019 was the fifth consecutive year of declining global terrorism since terrorist violence peaked in 2014 at nearly 17,000 attacks and more than 44,000 total deaths. The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide decreased 50% between 2014 and 2019, and the total number of deaths decreased 54%. Regional trends varied substantially.

▪ While the Taliban engaged in peace talks with the United States, Afghanistan experienced 21% of all terrorist attacks worldwide in 2019, and 41% of all people killed in terrorist attacks (including assailants) in 2019 were killed in Afghanistan.2

- The number of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan increased 2% between 2018 and 2019.

- The total number of deaths due to terrorism in Afghanistan decreased 16%; however, this change was largely a result of the 32% decline in the number of assailants killed during attacks, which is typically especially high in Afghanistan (38% of all deaths in 2019). The number of victims killed in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan declined 2% and the number of victims killed in attacks carried out by the Taliban increased 9% between 2018 and 2019, essentially sustaining the escalation that has taken place in Afghanistan in recent years.