Increasing terrorism activities in Malaysia has driven the country up 41 spot on the list of Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2014.

Malaysia was ranked 48th in the latest index, a huge leap from the 91st spot when the index was first introduced in 2012.

Malaysia recorded 13 incidents of terrorism, involving two deaths, one injury and seven cases of property damage last year, based on the report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).

Iraq topped the list with a score of 10 followed by Afghanistan, Pakistan Nigeria, Syria, India, Somalia, Yemen, the Philippines and Thailand.

The United Kingdom ranked 27th with a score of 5.17 while the United States at 30th with 4.71.

Indonesia was ranked 31st with a score of 4.67.

Only Singapore and Vietnam were countries in the region that was not listed, a clear indication that both countries were free from terrorist activities.

The GTI ranks countries according to the impact of terrorist activities as well as analysing the economic and social dimensions associated with terrorism.

The index scores 162 countries, covering 99.6 per cent of the world’s population and examines trends between 2000 and 2013.

The indicators used include the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries and property damage.

Based on the report’s findings, terrorism has become a global phenomenon with 17,958 people killed in terrorist attacks in 2013 – 61 percent more than the previous year.

Out of the number, 82 percent of all deaths from terrorist attack occur in just five countries, namely Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria.

The report added that terrorism in 2013 was dominated by various groups including the Taliban, Boko Haram, ISIL and al-Qaeda.

Over 90 percent of all terrorist attacks occur in countries that have gross human rights violations.

Since 2000, there have been over 48,000 terrorist attacks occurred and killed over 107,000 people.

There are five times more people killed in terrorist attacks today than there were in 2000.