Number of terrorist attacks last year grew 44%

The number of terrorism events grew 44% between 2012 and 2013, with lives lost also jumping 61% year over year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

There were 9,814 terrorist attacks recorded last year, which resulted in nearly 18,000 deaths, according to the organization’s Global Terrorism Index. Explosives accounted for the majority of attacks, while suicide bombings accounted for less than 5%, the organization said.

Overall, 24 countries saw more than 50 deaths in 2013, compared with 15 in 2012, the organization suggests. In total, 60 countries recorded deaths from terrorist attacks in 2013.

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More than 80% of all deaths from terrorist events last year occurred in five countries – Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. In Iraq, the number of fatalities rose 164% to 6,362, the largest increase in the index.

Countries part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that recorded deaths from terrorism included Turkey, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece, Israel, Czech Republic and Chile.

“There are three statistically significant factors associated with terrorism: state sponsored violence, group grievances and high levels of criminality,” the institute notes.

“Interestingly, poverty rates, levels of  school attendance and most economic factors have no association with terrorism. The strong relationship between terrorism and other forms of violence underlines how the persistent targeting of police forces and the instability generated by terrorist activity can undermine the rule of law.”