Chart of the week: Trend in the global economic cost of violence

This chart from the 2021 Economic Cost of Violence Report illustrates the trend in the global economic impact of violence from 2007 to 2019. Between 2012 and 2017, the economic impact of violence rose by 12.2 per cent and peaked at $14.8 trillion. This increase coincided with the start of the Syrian war and rising violence in Libya, Yemen and other parts of the Middle East and North Africa region. However, over the last two years, the economic impact has declined steadily, and in 2019, fell by 0.4%. These decreases coincided with the defeat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria, which has led to an improvement in the security situation in both countries over the past two years.