INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sri Lanka has been named one of the countries with the lowest terror threats in the world, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI)
2025.The 12th annual GTI report, released on Wednesday (March 5), ranked Sri Lanka 100th among 163 countries considered in the index
However, with a GTI score of zero, Sri Lanka shares the lowest spot on the index with 63 other countries.The report indicates that Sri Lanka
has significantly improved, dropping 64 spots in the index within a year, thereby lowering the risk of terror threats within the island
nation.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also shares the lowest terror threat ranking in the South Asian region with Bhutan.In 2024, South Asia had the
highest average GTI score, a position it has held for the past decade
with all South Asian countries showing improvement.The report attributes this improvement largely to a decline in terrorist activity in
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka
The region is home to two of the ten countries with the worst GTI scores: Afghanistan and Pakistan
Of the seven countries in South Asia, only Bhutan and Sri Lanka have a GTI score of zero, indicating that neither country has recorded a
terrorist attack in the past five years.The surge in terrorism in the region was primarily driven by Pakistan, where regional attacks
increased from 726 to 1,399 and deaths rose from 961 to 1,303
Bangladesh and Pakistan were the only two countries in the region to record a deterioration in their scores in 2024
Consequently, Pakistan ranked as the second most terrorism-affected country globally for the second consecutive year, while India was ranked
14th.Sri Lanka was the most improved South Asian country in 2024, having recorded no terrorist attacks or deaths for the fifth consecutive
Nepal followed as the second most improved country, recording no attacks or deaths for the second consecutive year.Meanwhile, the Sahel
region remains the epicenter of terrorism, accounting for over half of all global terrorism-related deaths, according to the report.The GTI
is produced by the international think tank, the Institute for Economics - Peace (IEP), and has been published annually for the past 12
It is the most comprehensive resource on global terrorism trends, using multiple factors to calculate scores, including the number of
incidents, fatalities, injuries, and hostage situations
These factors are combined with conflict and socioeconomic data to provide a holistic picture of terrorism worldwide.
