Global Terrorism Index

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is an attempt to systematically rank the nations of the world according to terrorist activity. The index combines a number of factors associated with terrorist attacks to build an explicit picture of the impact of terrorism over a 10-year period, illustrating trends, and providing a data series for analysis by researchers and policymakers. It is the product of Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and is based on data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) which is collected and collated by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. The GTD has codified over 125,000 cases of terrorism.

Publications by year

Institute for Economics and Peace has published four editions of Global Terrorism Index.

2012

The first edition of Global Terrorism Index was published in 2012. The study covered analysis of 158 countries.

2014

The second edition of Global Terrorism Index was published in November 2014. The study covered analysis of 162 countries.

2015

A world map indicating the GTI by country (based on 2015 data)

The third edition of Global Terrorism Index was published in November 2015. The study covered analysis of 162 countries.

2016

A world map indicating the GTI by country (2016)

The fourth edition of Global Terrorism Index was published in November 2016. The study covered analysis of 163 countries.

GTI ranks and scores, 2016

Rank	Country	Score	Change in score (2015 to 2016)
1	Iraq	9.96	−0.04
2	Afghanistan	9.444	0.229
3	Nigeria	9.314	0.075
4	Pakistan	8.613	−0.027
5	Syria	8.587	0.458
6	Yemen	8.076	0.607
7	Somalia	7.548	0.012
8	India	7.484	−0.059
9	Egypt	7.328	0.751
10	Libya	7.283	0.228
11	Ukraine	7.132	0.094
12	Philippines	7.098	0.071
13	Cameroon	7.002	0.504
14	Turkey	6.738	1.272
15	Thailand	6.706	−0.249
16	Niger	6.682	3.474
17	Democratic Republic of the Congo	6.633	0.209
18	Sudan	6.66	0
19	Kenya	6.578	−0.04
20	Central African Republic	6.518	−0.229
21	South Sudan	6.497	−0.273
22	Bangladesh	6.479	0.959
23	China	6.108	−0.206
24	Lebanon	6.068	−0.122
25	Mali	6.03	0.347
26	Colombia	5.954	−0.197
27	Chad	5.83	3.663
28	Palestine	5.659	0.658
29	France	5.603	2.02
30	Russia	5.43	−0.623
31	Burundi	5.417	2.156
32	Saudi Arabia	5.404	1.678
33	Israel	5.248	−0.302
34	United Kingdom	5.08	0.012
35	Tunisia	4.963	1.452
36	United States	4.877	0.358
37	Kuwait	4.449	4.43
38	Indonesia	4.429	−0.027
39	Nepal	4.415	0.063
40	Uganda	4.327	−0.615
41	Germany	4.308	1.582
42	Algeria	4.282	−0.377
43	Greece	4.218	−0.011
44	Bahrain	4.206	−0.299
45	Myanmar	4.167	0.364
46	Sweden	3.984	1.858
47	Iran	3.949	−0.226
48	Paraguay	3.84	0.286
49	Tanzania	3.832	−0.125
50	Mexico	3.723	−0.129
51	Mozambique	3.536	−0.551
52	South Africa	3.531	1.676
53	Sri Lanka	3.486	−0.194
54	Ethiopia	3.454	−0.007
55	Ireland	3.429	0.1
56	Tajikistan	3.086	1.368
57	Peru	2.984	−0.046
58	Jordan	2.858	1.363
59	Australia	2.742	−0.026
60	Chile	2.699	−0.659
61	Malaysia	2.691	−0.341
62	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2.675	1.455
63	Burkina Faso	2.623	2.316
64	Senegal	2.598	−0.638
65	Rwanda	2.589	−0.726
66	Canada	2.518	−0.084
67	Japan	2.447	2.447
68	Finland	2.377	2.377
69	Italy	2.363	−0.205
70	Kosovo	2.205	−0.357
71	Czech Republic	2.179	0.25
72	Ivory Coast	2.177	−0.752
73	Denmark	2.152	2.061
74	Nicaragua	2.093	−0.656
75	Norway	2.077	−0.656
76	Cyprus	2.04	−0.301
77	Venezuela	1.998	0.357
78	North Macedonia	1.86	0.02
79	Djibouti	1.78	−0.691
80	Brazil	1.74	−0.306
81	Madagascar	1.671	−0.67
82	Bulgaria	1.631	−0.38
83	Dominican Republic	1.562	−0.649
84	Kyrgyzstan	1.445	0.134
85	Guinea	1.403	0.942
86	Belarus	1.357	−0.698
87	Georgia	1.257	−0.677
88	Belgium	1.245	−0.684
89	Spain	1.203	−0.701
90	Honduras	1.144	−0.666
90	Guatemala	1.144	−0.666
92	Albania	1.103	−0.498
92	Estonia	1.103	1.026
94	Kazakhstan	0.934	−0.658
95	Morocco	0.892	−0.445
95	Lesotho	0.892	0.892
97	Netherlands	0.864	0.586
98	Ecuador	0.793	0.313
99	Laos	0.695	0.657
100	Eritrea	0.534	−1.082
101	Argentina	0.499	−0.491
101	Trinidad and Tobago	0.499	−0.28
103	United Arab Emirates	0.422	−0.635
104	Zimbabwe	0.413	−0.61
105	Republic of the Congo	0.365	−0.47
106	Azerbaijan	0.346	−0.433
106	Ghana	0.346	−0.433
108	Switzerland	0.288	−0.323
108	Armenia	0.288	0.173
110	Iceland	0.25	−0.249
110	Liberia	0.25	−0.249
112	Hungary	0.23	−0.231
112	New Zealand	0.23	−0.231
112	South Korea	0.23	0.23
112	Qatar	0.23	0.23
116	Austria	0.182	−0.183
117	Montenegro	0.154	−0.153
117	Uzbekistan	0.154	0.154
119	Bhutan	0.115	−0.115
119	Jamaica	0.115	−0.115
121	Serbia	0.086	−0.135
122	Guinea-Bissau	0.077	−0.077
122	Cambodia	0.077	−0.077
122	Taiwan	0.077	−0.077
125	Mauritania	0.067	−0.125
126	Portugal	0.058	−0.057
126	Croatia	0.058	−0.057
128	Bolivia	0.038	−0.039
129	Moldova	0.019	−0.019
130	Angola	0	−0.168
130	Benin	0	0
130	Botswana	0	0
130	Costa Rica	0	0
130	Cuba	0	0
130	Gabon	0	0
130	Gambia	0	0
130	Equatorial Guinea	0	0
130	Guyana	0	0
130	Haiti	0	0
130	Lithuania	0	0
130	Latvia	0	0
130	Mauritius	0	0
130	Malawi	0	0
130	Mongolia	0	0
130	Namibia	0	0
130	North Korea	0	0
130	Oman	0	0
130	Panama	0	0
130	Papua New Guinea	0	0
130	Poland	0	0
130	Romania	0	0
130	Sierra Leone	0	0
130	Singapore	0	0
130	El Salvador	0	0
130	Slovakia	0	0
130	Slovenia	0	0
130	Eswatini	0	0
130	Togo	0	0
130	Turkmenistan	0	0
130	Timor-Leste	0	0
130	Uruguay	0	0
130	Vietnam	0	0
130	Zambia	0	0

Methodology

GTI Scoring System

The GTI score for a country in a given year is based on a unique scoring system to account for the relative impact of incidents in the year. There are four factors counted in each country's yearly score:

• Total number of terrorist incidents in a given year
• Total number of fatalities caused by terrorism in a given year
• Total number of injuries caused by terrorism in a given year
• The approximate level of total property damage from terrorist incidents in a given year

Each of the factors is weighted differently and a five-year weighted average is applied to importantly reflect the lingering psychological effect of terrorist acts over time. The weightings shown in the table below were determined by consultation with the GPI Expert Panel:

Dimension	Weight
Total number of incidents	1
Total number of fatalities	3
Total number of injuries	0.5
Sum of property damages measure	2

The greatest weighting is attributed to a fatality. The property damage measure is further disaggregated into four bands depending on the measured scope of the property damage inflicted by one incident. These bandings are shown in the table below, whereby incidents causing less than US$1 million are accorded a weight of 1, between $1 million and $1 billion, and more than $1 billion. A great majority of incidents are coded in the GTD as an 'unknown' level of property damage, thus scoring nil, with 'catastrophic' events being extremely rare.

Code	Damage level
0	Unknown
1	Minor (likely < $1 million)
2	Major (likely between $1 million and $1 billion)
3	Catastrophic (likely > $1 billion)

Example of a country's GTI Score

To assign a relative number to how a country has been directly impacted by terrorism in any given year, for every incident recorded, the GTI calculates a weighted sum of all indicators. To illustrate, the table below depicts a hypothetical country's score for a given year:

Dimension	Weight	# of records for the given year	Score
Total number of incidents	1	21	21
Total number of fatalities	3	36	108
Total number of injuries	0.5	53	26.5
Sum of property damages measure	2	20	40
Total Raw Score	195.5

Given these indicator values, the country for that year would be assessed as having a raw impact of terrorism score of:

(1 x 21) + (3 x 36) + (0.5 x 53) + (2 x 20) = 195.5.

See also

• Number of terrorist incidents by country
• Global Terrorism Database
• Patterns of Global Terrorism
• Global Peace Index
• United States Peace Index
• Terrorism

External links

• START - National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, at the University of Maryland.