Where the Economic Impact of Terrorism is Strongest

The economic cost of terrorism equated to a crippling 16.7 percent of Afghanistan's GDP last year. That is according to the new Global Terrorism Index from the Institute of Economics & Peace. Relatively speaking, no other country is impacted more, with the second most affected nation Syria at 3.4 percent of GDP. The situation in Iraq has improved hugely in recent years as the so-called Islamic State was ground down and ultimately driven out of the country. In 2016, for example, terrorism accounted for nearly a quarter of Iraqi GDP but that has declined hugely to just 1.1 percent.