In 2025, terrorism caused fewer deaths around the world. However, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are sad exceptions. Violence has increased in these two African countries. This is mainly because of extremist groups and organized criminals. A report by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) shows this. The situation in these countries is getting worse. This makes the global progress against terrorism harder.
Nigeria has been hit the hardest. Deaths from terrorism went up by 46%. This means 750 people died in 2025, compared to 513 in 2024. Nigeria is now the fourth worst country for terrorism. This is due to many reasons. Long conflicts with groups like Boko Haram continue. Criminals called "bandits" also cause problems. New groups like Lakurawa are also a threat. There have been terrible attacks. In February 2025, 162 people were killed in Kwara state. Attacks on military bases in Borno state killed at least 80 soldiers. Maiduguri has also seen suicide bombings. These attacks killed over 23 people and injured more than 100.
The Democratic Republic of Congo also faces more danger. Terrorism deaths increased by almost 28%. This number rose from 365 to 467. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is blamed for this. The DRC is now ranked eighth in the world for terrorism. This situation in Africa is different from the rest of the world. Globally, terrorism deaths fell by 28%. There were also fewer terrorist attacks worldwide.
Steve Killelea from the IEP is worried. He thinks a changing world order makes fighting terrorism harder. Western countries also saw a big increase in deaths. Deaths from terrorism rose by 280% to 57. The United States had its highest number of deaths since 2019. This happened because young people are becoming radicalized. Also, there are more individual attackers.