Data
Terrorism deaths rate
What you should know about this indicator
- This field stores the number of total confirmed fatalities for the incident. The number includes all victims and attackers who died as a direct result of the incident. Where there is evidence of fatalities, but a figure is not reported or it is too vague to be of use, this field remains blank. If information is missing regarding the number of victims killed in an attack, but perpetrator fatalities are known, this value will reflect only the number of perpetrators who died as a result of the incident. Likewise, if information on the number of perpetrators killed in an attack is missing, but victim fatalities are known, this field will only report the number of victims killed in the incident. Where several independent sources report different numbers of fatalities, the database will usually reflect the number given by the most recent source. However, the most recent source will not be used if the source itself is of questionable validity or if the source bases its death numbers on claims made by a perpetrator group. When there are several "most recent" sources published around the same time, or there are concerns about the validity of a recent source, the majority figure will be used. Where there is no majority figure among independent sources, the database will record the lowest proffered fatality figure, unless that figure comes from a source of questionable validity or there is another compelling reason to do otherwise. Conflicting reports of fatalities will be noted in the "Additional Notes" field.
- In some cases it's unclear whether an incident fully meets the criteria. In these borderline cases, terrorism is considered likely but not certain, and the incident is still included. For example, the GTD includes non-state attacks with political or ideological motives (from targeted killings and sabotage to 5G mast arson linked to conspiracy theories). It excludes state terrorism, lawful warfare, and non-political violence such as most U.S. school shootings, profit-driven crime, and personal disputes.
Terrorism deaths rate
Annual number of confirmed deaths from terrorist attacks, including all victims and attackers, per 100,000 people.
Source
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
July 20, 2023
Next expected update
February 2026
Date range
1970–2021
Unit
deaths per 100,000 people
What you should know about this indicator
- This field stores the number of total confirmed fatalities for the incident. The number includes all victims and attackers who died as a direct result of the incident. Where there is evidence of fatalities, but a figure is not reported or it is too vague to be of use, this field remains blank. If information is missing regarding the number of victims killed in an attack, but perpetrator fatalities are known, this value will reflect only the number of perpetrators who died as a result of the incident. Likewise, if information on the number of perpetrators killed in an attack is missing, but victim fatalities are known, this field will only report the number of victims killed in the incident. Where several independent sources report different numbers of fatalities, the database will usually reflect the number given by the most recent source. However, the most recent source will not be used if the source itself is of questionable validity or if the source bases its death numbers on claims made by a perpetrator group. When there are several "most recent" sources published around the same time, or there are concerns about the validity of a recent source, the majority figure will be used. Where there is no majority figure among independent sources, the database will record the lowest proffered fatality figure, unless that figure comes from a source of questionable validity or there is another compelling reason to do otherwise. Conflicting reports of fatalities will be noted in the "Additional Notes" field.
- In some cases it's unclear whether an incident fully meets the criteria. In these borderline cases, terrorism is considered likely but not certain, and the incident is still included. For example, the GTD includes non-state attacks with political or ideological motives (from targeted killings and sabotage to 5G mast arson linked to conspiracy theories). It excludes state terrorism, lawful warfare, and non-political violence such as most U.S. school shootings, profit-driven crime, and personal disputes.
Terrorism deaths rate
Annual number of confirmed deaths from terrorist attacks, including all victims and attackers, per 100,000 people.
Source
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
July 20, 2023
Next expected update
February 2026
Date range
1970–2021
Unit
deaths per 100,000 people
Sources and processing
This data is based on the following sources
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Citations
How to cite this page
To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:
“Data Page: Terrorism deaths rate”, part of the following publication: Bastian Herre, Veronika Samborska, Hannah Ritchie, and Max Roser (2023) - “Terrorism”. Data adapted from National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260115-151139/grapher/terrorism-deaths-rate.html [online resource] (archived on January 15, 2026).How to cite this data
In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in DataFull citation
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Terrorism deaths rate” [dataset]. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), “Global Terrorism Database”; National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), “Global Terrorism Database (2020-2021)” [original data]. Retrieved January 16, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260115-151139/grapher/terrorism-deaths-rate.html (archived on January 15, 2026).