The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) publishes the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which was created by Steve Killelea, an IT entrepreneur, and IEP founder. Since 2000, the index has provided a thorough overview of the important global trends over time in terrorism. It is an effort to rate the countries of the globe in terms of terrorist activity in a methodical manner.
The index integrates a number of characteristics linked to terrorist attacks to create a clear picture of the effects of terrorism, highlighting patterns and offering a data set for scholars and policymakers to analyze. It generates a composite score and provides an absolute ranking of countries is based on their terrorism impact.
To check India’s ranking in Global Indices, candidates can visit the linked article.
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Recently, Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) released Global Terrorism Index (GTI) – 2023.
Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2023- Key Highlights:
- For the fourth year in a row, Afghanistan is the country most affected by terrorism.
- At 6,701 deaths worldwide, terrorism-related fatalities are down by 9% from their peak in 2015, a 38 % drop. A decrease in incidences was paralleled by a drop in fatalities.
- It was discovered that South Asia has the lowest GTI score.
- The number of terrorist-related fatalities in Pakistan increased significantly over the previous year, rising by 120%.
- The Taliban’s transformation into a state actor is blamed for the 9% decrease in terrorism-related fatalities.
- The number of terrorist deaths outside of Afghanistan increased by 4%.
- The Sahel is the area most affected by terrorism, accounting for 43% of all fatalities, a 7% increase over the previous year.
Findings on India:
- India rated 13th on the index, a small improvement over the previous year.
- India’s GTI score was 7.175, placing it among the nations with the “highest” impact of terrorism.
About Global Terrorism Index (GTI)
- The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is a thorough investigation that examines the effects of terrorism on 163 nations, or 99.7% of the world’s population.
- The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) uses information from Terrorism Tracker and other sources to generate the GTI report.
Criteria for calculation
There is no single, internationally agreed-upon definition of terrorism. The GTD authors, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) researchers, and its advisory group all agreed on language and meanings, which IEP recognizes. Terrorism, according to the GTI, is defined as “a non-state actor’s actual or threatened use of unlawful force and violence to achieve a political, economic, religious, or social aim via fear, coercion, or intimidation.” This definition recognizes that terrorism includes not just the physical aspect of an assault, but also the long-term psychological effects it has on society.
The act must be: “a purposeful act of deception” in order to be listed as an incident in the GTD. This means that in order for an incident to be classified as a terrorist act, it must meet three criteria:
- The act must have been planned — the outcome of a deliberate calculation on the side of the offender.
- There has to be some level of violence and intimidation involved in the occurrence, including property damage and aggression against persons.
- Sub-national actors must be the offenders of the crimes. Actions of state terrorism are not included in this database.
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Indicators of Global Terrorism Index
The GTI score for a nation in a particular year is calculated using a proprietary scoring algorithm that takes into account the relative influence of incidents throughout the year. Each nation’s yearly score is based on four indicators:
- In a particular year, the number of total terrorist incidents.
- In a particular year, the total number of people killed or injured as a result of terrorism.
- The total number of terrorist-related injuries in a particular year.
- In a particular year, the estimated total property damage caused by terrorist incidents.
Each of the variables is given a distinct weighting:
| Dimension | Weight |
| Total number of incidents | 1 |
| Total number of fatalities | 3 |
| Total number of injuries | 0.5 |
| Sum of property damages measure | Between 0 and 3 depending on the severity |
As a result, a fatality is generally given the highest weighting. The damage to property measure is even further divided into four bands based on the estimated scope of property damage caused by a single incident. These bandings are given in the table below, with occurrences causing less than $1 million receiving a weight of 1, $1 million to $1 billion receiving a weight of 2, and much more than $1 billion receiving a weight of 3. The vast majority of incidents in the GTD are recorded as having a ‘unknown’ amount of property damage, resulting in a score of 0; ‘catastrophic’ events are relatively rare.
| Damage level | Weight |
| Unknown | 0 |
| Minor (likely < $1 million) | 1 |
| Major (likely between $1 million and $1 billion) | 2 |
| Catastrophic (likely > $1 billion) | 3 |
Impact of Terrorism on Economy
The cost of violence technique developed by the IEP is used to calculate the financial impact of terrorism.
The model accounts for both direct and indirect expenses, such as lost lifetime wages, medical treatment expenditures, and property damage caused by terrorist attacks. The actual costs also include borne by the terrorist attack victim as well as ancillary expenses such as hospital expenses. Variable expenses include lost productivity and earnings, as well as psychological distress suffered by the victims, their families, and friends. Since the year 2000, there were three peaks in the economic impact of terrorism, all of which are tied to the three major waves of terrorism.
India’s Rank
In 2020, India’s global terrorism index was 7.35. Though the global terrorism index for India has changed significantly in recent years, it has tended to decline from 2011 to 2020, concluding at the 7.35 index in 2020.
India was rated 8th globally in the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2020 list of nations most affected by terrorism in 2019. Terrorism caused 277 deaths, 439 injuries, and 558 incidents in India in 2019. In terms of regional terrorism, South Asia was perhaps the most affected in 2019, with more fatalities than just about any other region. In addition, the number of people killed by terrorism declined by 15% to 13,286 in 2019 compared to 2018.
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The Global Terror Convention or Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism is a proposed treaty which intends to outlaw all forms of terrorism(international) and restrict terrorists, their financiers the access to all form of supports like funds, arms, and safe havens. IAS aspirants can visit the linked article and get details about the same.
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Frequently Asked Questions on Global Terrorism Index
What is India’s rank on GTI Index?
India ranks 8th on GTI.
Who publishes the GTI?
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) publishes the GTI.
Who created the Global Terrorism Index?
Steve Killelea created the Global Terrorism Index.
What technique is used to ascertain the financial impact of terrorism?
The cost of violence technique developed by the IEP is used to calculate the financial impact of terrorism.
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