Report shows reduction in terror deaths worldwide

The 2019 Global Terrorism Index from the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) has shown the number of deaths from terrorism to have fallen for the fourth consecutive year.

According to the report, there was a peak of 33,555 deaths in 2014, but this total fell by 52 per cent to reach 15,952 last year.

The total number of deaths declined by more than 15 per cent in 2018 alone on the back of the defeat of the so-called Islamic State and the fall of its caliphate.

In Europe, terror deaths fell by 70 per cent as western Europe recorded its lowest figure since 2012, with only two attacks killing five or more people.

However, the study warned that Britain is the worst-affected country in the European Union - and that terrorism remains a significant global security threat.

Executive chairman of the IEP Steve Killelea said: "The situation still remains volatile, with large parts of Syria being contested and many smaller groups sympathetic to ISIL philosophies being active, leaving the possibility of further Islamist attacks in Europe."

Earlier this month, the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre made the decision to reduce the nation's threat level from severe to substantial.