Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) situations: Battle-related deaths (number of people)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) situations' battle-related deaths (number of people) fell 4.9% on 2023 (from 101,476 to 96,520).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2012 to 2023), the average change was +36.8% and a typical year strayed about 94.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 244.2% in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 63% in 2023. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 16% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

What this measures

Battle-related deaths are deaths in battle-related conflicts between warring parties in the conflict dyad (two conflict units that are parties to a conflict). Battle-related deaths refer to those deaths caused by the warring parties that can be directly related to combat. This includes battlefield fighting, guerrilla activities (e.g. hit and-run attacks/ambushes) and all kinds of bombardments of military bases, cities and villages etc. The target for the attacks is either the military forces or representatives for the parties, though there is often substantial collateral damage in the form of civilians being killed in the crossfire, indiscriminate bombings, etc. All fatalities, military as well as civilian, incurred in such situations are counted as battle-related deaths.

Limitations: While the best estimate for battle-related deaths is considered a conservative minimum, the high estimate may still undercount actual fatalities due to unreported events, and users are cautioned that the apparent precision of the numbers does not eliminate underlying uncertainty.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 15 values

Battle-related deaths (number of people) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 260 (2024)
• Algeria — 26 (2020)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 231 (2022)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 123 (2024)
• Iraq — 396 (2024)
• Israel — 21,440 (2024)
• Lebanon — 4,335 (2024)
• Libya — 2 (2024)
• Pakistan — 1,534 (2024)
• Saudi Arabia — 9 (2023)
• Syrian Arab Republic

More public sector data for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) situations

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 106.66 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 6.77% (2025)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 2.7 billion (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 3.25 million (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.89% (2020)
• CPIA business regulatory environment rating (1=low to 6=high) — 2.56 (2025)
• CPIA debt policy rating (1=low to 6=high) — 2.58 (2025)
• CPIA economic management cluster average (1=low to 6=high)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) situations's battle-related deaths (number of people)?

96,520 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2009?

It is up 656.96% from 12,751 in 2009 (14.45% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 274,369 in 2022 and the lowest 12,751 in 2009.

Is the latest change in battle-related deaths (number of people) unusual for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) situations?

In 2024, Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) situations' battle-related deaths (number of people) fell 4.9% on 2023 (from 101,476 to 96,520). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2012 to 2023), the average change was +36.8% and a typical year strayed about 94.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator VC.BTL.DETH, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset , Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), uri: https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/, publisher: Uppsala University Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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