In the 11th edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which provides a comprehensive summary of key global trends and patterns in terrorism since 2012, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been identified as one of the safest countries in the world.
The GTI report was prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), using data from the Dragonfly TerrorismTracker database and other sources.
In 2023, deaths from terrorism increased by 22%, reaching 8.352 fatalities, marking the highest level since 2017.
Terrorism in the West has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years. In 2023, 23 attacks were recorded in the West, a 55% decrease from the previous year and significantly lower than the peak of 176 attacks recorded in 2017.
Sixteen of these attacks occurred in the United States (U.S.), with only five Western countries recording attacks, and only Belgium and the U.S. recording fatalities. The total number of deaths in the West fell by 22% to 21 deaths. Politically and religiously motivated attacks in the West have also declined. Of the seven attacks recorded in the U.S. in 2023, five were linked to individuals with far-right sympathies or connections.
The epicenter of terrorism has now shifted from the Middle East to the central Sahel region in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, the Sahel experienced nearly 4.000 deaths from terrorism or 47% of the global total.
Iraq is no longer among the ten countries most affected by terrorism, with its total number of deaths falling by 65% last year. Before 2023, Iraq had been ranked in the top ten every year since the index began. Burkina Faso, for the first time, has become the country most impacted by terrorism, with a 68% increase in terrorism deaths to 1.907, a quarter of all global terrorism deaths occurred in Burkina Faso.
Terrorism is not the deadliest form of violence in the world. Armed conflict leads to nine times more deaths than terrorism, homicides are over 45 times higher, and deaths from suicide are 72 times greater. However, terrorism is unique in its unpredictability and high casualty rates, which result in significant emotional and psychological effects, leading to considerable societal and geopolitical consequences.
Regarding Europe, the greatest impact of terrorism was recorded in Turkey (29th globally), Greece (34th globally), Germany (37th globally), France (38th globally), and the United Kingdom (UK) (41st globally).
BiH is classified among the countries with no impact from terrorism in the previous year. According to the report, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia also belong to this group.
The impact of terrorism in Europe is now lower than it has ever been since the index began. There were seven deaths in 24 incidents in 2023, compared to 736 deaths in 362 incidents at the peak of terrorist activities in 2016.
Only five countries recorded deaths from terrorism last year, and 17 of the 36 countries in the region have not recorded a single incident in the past five years. However, 12 countries have experienced worsening scores over the past decade, with the most significant decline occurring in Germany and Belgium. This reflects a growing latent level of terrorism in the region, which, while it has decreased since its peak in 2016, remains ready to flare up in the near future, according to the report.
