Nigeria has risen to sixth place in the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, scoring 7.658, up from its eighth-place ranking in 2023 and 2024. The report, released on March 5, 2025, reveals that Burkina Faso leads the index with a score of 8.581, followed by Pakistan (8.374), Syria (8.006), Mali (7.907), and Niger (7.776) in the top five.
Somalia (7.614), Israel (7.463), Afghanistan (7.262), Cameroon (6.944), Myanmar (6.929), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (6.768), Iraq (6.582), India (6.410), Colombia (6.381), and Russia (6.267) round out the top sixteen.
The report highlights a concerning trend in Nigeria, with 565 terrorism-related deaths recorded in 2024, a 34% increase from 2023, when 533 deaths were reported. While Nigeria saw a significant decline in fatalities from its peak of 2,101 in 2014 to 392 in 2022, the past two years have marked a troubling reversal.
Globally, terrorism-related deaths have dropped by nearly a third since 2015, with Iraq and Nigeria previously recording the largest declines. However, the resurgence of violence in Nigeria underscores the fragile nature of these gains.
The report also points to the expanding influence of IS-Sahel, which has extended its operations from the Liptako-Gourma region, spanning Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, into Algeria, Benin, and Nigeria. In 2024 alone, the group carried out 16 attacks in Nigeria, 12 in Niger, six in Mali, and one in Burkina Faso.
The Sahel region has emerged as the global epicenter of terrorism, accounting for 51% of all terrorism-related deaths in 2024. This represents a nearly tenfold increase since 2019. Conflict-related deaths in the region surpassed 25,000 for the first time since the index began, with 3,885 attributed to terrorism.
Burkina Faso remains the most affected country, despite a 21% drop in deaths and a 57% decline in attacks in 2024. The country still accounted for one-fifth of global terrorism-related fatalities. Meanwhile, Niger experienced the largest increase in terrorism-related deaths, surging by 94% to 930 fatalities, a stark reversal of its 2022 progress.
The report warns that counterterrorism gains are often fragile, as seen in Niger’s case. It also notes that the number of countries affected by at least one terrorist attack rose to 66 in 2024, the highest since 2018.
“Terrorism remains a persistent global threat,” the report states. “In 2024, 45 countries reported a deterioration in security, while only 34 saw improvements, marking the first time in seven years that more nations worsened than improved.”
The findings underscore the evolving challenges in combating terrorism, particularly in regions like the Sahel, where instability and violence continue to escalate.
