Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD): Battle-related deaths (number of people)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)'s battle-related deaths (number of people) rose 135.7% on 2023 (from 4,372 to 10,303).

Across the 14 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +9.5% and a typical year strayed about 58.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 139.7% in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 89.3% in 2022. 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 the straight-line trend is downward, about 8,834 a year. A straight line explains 80% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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 19 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 Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 1.97 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 64.86 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 3.23% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 13.93% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 4.19 million (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 2.1% (2020)
• CPIA business regulatory environment rating (1=low to 6=high)

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Questions people ask

What is Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)'s battle-related deaths (number of people)?

10,303 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1993?

It is up 91.08% from 5,392 in 1993 (2.11% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 97,253 in 2014 and the lowest 4,372 in 2023.

Is the latest change in battle-related deaths (number of people) unusual for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)?

In 2024, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)'s battle-related deaths (number of people) rose 135.7% on 2023 (from 4,372 to 10,303). Across the 14 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +9.5% and a typical year strayed about 58.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

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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