The Sahel region of Africa which has become the "global epicentre of terrorism" accounted for nearly half of all terrorism-related deaths for the third consecutive year in 2025, the Global Terrorism Report said Thursday.
The index, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace think tank, has ranked 163 countries for 13 years according to the impact of "terrorism" based on indicators such as the number of attacks, deaths, injuries and hostages.
In 2024, more than half of the 7,555 deaths due to "terrorism" worldwide were recorded in the Sahel, a semi-arid belt stretching along the Sahara desert's southern rim from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.
Trend unchanged
The trend remained largely unchanged in 2025, with nearly half of the 5,582 deaths attributed to "terrorists" occurring in the Sahel, although the total number of victims in the region fell, the Australia-based think tank said.
"The Sahel has suffered a tenfold increase in terrorism fatalities since 2007", when it accounted for only one percent of global terrorism-related deaths.
"The epicentre of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East and North Africa, into the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa," the report said.
Burkina Faso was the most affected country in the world for two consecutive years but was overtaken in 2025 by Pakistan. The West African country saw the greatest decline in the number of deaths in 2025, falling 45 percent from the previous year, to 846, the report noted.
Nigeria rises in index
Niger, listed fifth in 2024, climbed to third place with an increase in "terrorism" incidents in 2025 and surpassing Mali and Syria with 703 deaths, more than half of which were civilians.
Nigeria rose to fourth place on the index, with 750 people killed in 2025, up 46 percent from the previous year.
Mali saw a decline in deaths, now ranked fifth on the index, with 341 killed last year compared to 604 in 2024.
