By: Dwight Links
The 2026 Global Terror Index cited that Africa dominates the top ten listed countries, with six being from the continent.
The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), which authored the report, says that they analyse the trends and impacts of terrorism. The organisation’s aim is “shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.”
According to the report, “Terrorism remains highly concentrated. Just under 70 per cent of deaths from terrorism occurred in only five countries: Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
As six of the ten countries most impacted by terrorism are in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region has now become the global epicentre of terrorism. In terms of the African countries with the greatest proportion of terror activity, Nigeria leads the way.
“Nigeria recorded the largest increase in 2025, with fatalities rising by 46% to 750. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram were responsible for 80% of all terrorism deaths in the country,” stated the IEP in their analysis of the active antagonisers in the region.
A somewhat surprising addition is the DRC, which has been mired in the more well-known border conflict with Rwanda, as proxies had been the modus operandi of both nations in eastern DRC.
“The DRC also recorded a significant increase in terrorism, reaching its worst-ever position on the Index. Deaths in the DRC rose by nearly 28 per cent to 467, driven by attacks carried out by the IS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which targeted civilians, churches, hospitals, and funerals,” the report added.
Increasing Attacks
According to the IEP, deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa fell in ten countries while rising in just four. However, in the Sahel region, terrorism-related deaths accounted for more than half of all deaths globally.
“Five countries in the Sahel recorded falls in both the number of deaths and incidents from the previous year. Nigeria is the only country in the region to experience an increase in both categories,” added the report.
There was a positive to single out, as nations in the region which had been struggling with terror activity saw real results in 2025.
“Burkina Faso, the most impacted country in 2023 and 2024, recorded the largest decrease in deaths globally, with fatalities falling by 686, or 45 per cent,” shared the report.
Despite this decline, the IEP says that the lethality of attacks increased, reflecting a pattern of fewer but deadlier attacks.
The main driver of the decline was a steep reduction in civilian casualties, which fell by 84%.
Global View
According to the report, the year was marked by the absence of global large-scale attacks.
“The deadliest attack killed 120 people, compared to 237 in 2024 and over 1,100 in 2023. It was also the only attack in 2025 that killed more than 100 people, compared to five attacks of that magnitude in the prior year,” indicated the report.
This is as the average lethality also decreased from 2.1 to 1.8 deaths per attack.
As for main terror groups, the Islamic State continues to function as a loosely affiliated global network. As the report cites, in 2025 the group was active in 15 countries across six regions.
“Despite a 15% fall in the number of attacks attributed to the group, IS was responsible for just under 17% of all attacks worldwide,” IEP said.
“A notable shift occurred in the group’s regional focus: attacks in Sub-Saharan Africa almost doubled in the past year, rising from 111 to 221 incidents, while attacks in the Middle East and North Africa fell by 39 per cent,” expanded the IEP.
Nigeria saw a dramatic increase in IS activity, with IS attacks jumping from 20 in 2024 to 92 in 2025.
