The number of armed conflicts involving states reached its highest level since 1946, with 65 recorded worldwide in 2025, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
The annual Conflict Trends report found that state-on-state conflicts doubled from the previous year to 8, marking a new peak over the past 80 years. These include border clashes between India and Pakistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Cambodia and Thailand, as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Israeli military operations against Syria.
Researcher Siri Aas Rustad, who presented the findings to media outlets including AFP, described the data as alarming.
“Usually I'm able to sort of squeeze something positive out of it, but this year it's shocking, the numbers,†she said.
The report recorded approximately 245 000 deaths directly related to fighting or political violence in 2025, making it the third deadliest year since the end of the Cold War. Of these, nearly 76 500 deaths resulted from attacks directly targeting civilians, compared with 14 200 in 2024.
The sharp increase in civilian casualties is largely attributed to the conflict between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan. The siege and massacres in El-Fasher city in the Darfur region are estimated to have left some 60 000 people dead.
Since the Cold War ended, only 1994 and 2021 recorded higher death tolls, due to the Rwanda genocide and the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region respectively.
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Africa bears heaviest burden
Rustad noted that the global security landscape has shifted in recent years.
“What has happened in the past 5 or 6 years is that we have several big conflicts going on at the same time and they seem to take over from each other. The world doesn't get any break,†she said.
“And that's different from previously – this continuous high intensity level of conflict globally.â€
The PRIO study draws on data compiled by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), attached to Uppsala University. It categorises organised violence into three types: conflicts involving at least one state, non-state conflicts, and one-sided violence against civilians.
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Africa remained the most affected region with 29 state conflicts, followed by Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe.
Rustad identified Israel as “clearly one of the most aggressive countries in the world at the momentâ€, citing its involvement in different types of conflicts in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, against Iran and against Houthi rebels.
She also referenced the United States, saying President Donald Trump's return to power had brought “not just attacking and increasing violence, but also the trade barriers they're putting up.â€
“We are putting a lid on collaboration. The (UN) Security Council doesn't work at the moment. We get a much more polarised world,†she said.
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