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Trends in State-Based Armed Conflict, 1946–2022

Attachments

Obermeier, Anna Marie; Håvard Strand & Georgina Berry (2023) Trends in State-Based Armed Conflict, 1946–2022, Conflict Trends, 1. Oslo: PRIO.

In 2022, there were more battle-related deaths from state-based conflicts than in any year since 1984. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated news headlines, it was the war in Ethiopia that was the most deadly. With more than 100,000 fatalities, the war in Ethiopia alone accounts for nearly half of all battle-related deaths during 2022. We’ve also seen a shift in the conflict landscape; where previously Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria were the conflicts with the highest numbers of battle-related deaths, the wars in Ethiopia and Ukraine have become the world’s most violent conflicts.

Brief Points

  • The number of state-based conflicts has stagnated at a higher level compared to previous years.

  • In 2022, state-based battle-related deaths were at the highest point since 1984.

  • Two wars in Ethiopia and Ukraine accounted for 89% of more than 204,000 battle-related deaths from state-based conflicts in 2022.

  • 55 conflicts were recorded in 2022, eight of which were classified as wars.

  • The conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen declined in severity.