In 2025, governments in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia generated more conflict against neighbors, domestic conflict groups, communities, and protesters. Air and drone strikes are at an all-time high, as is defense spending to sustain these attacks.
Across Africa and Latin America, proliferating armed groups continue to plague countries by challenging the authority of governments and terrorizing communities.
ACLED’s Conflict Index offers a data-driven analysis of violence in 2025 across every country and territory in the world. The 2026 Watchlist then turns to the year ahead, highlighting 10 crisis areas where conditions are likely to shift, for better or for worse.
The ACLED Conflict Index is a global assessment of how and where conflicts in every country and territory in the world vary according to four indicators — deadliness, danger to civilians, geographic diffusion, and the number of armed groups.
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ACLED’s annual Conflict Watchlist highlights 10 countries and regions projected to face armed conflict, political unrest, and humanitarian emergencies in 2026.
ACLED’s conflict data shed light on how governments and armed groups are changing the global political landscape.
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ACLED CEO Prof. Clionadh Raleigh's monthly observations on the state of the world.
The ACLED Conflict Index can answer questions on how much conflict is happening in the world, where it is happening, and is it improving or worsening. This guide explains the rigorous methodology for the Index, including details on the indicators, rankings, and the data behind it.
How will conflict change in 2026? Watch the virtual launch of our annual Conflict Index and Watchlist, offering a data-driven look at global conflict trends.
The Conflict Exposure Calculator integrates data from ACLED with population size estimates from WorldPop, to estimate the civilian impact by proximity to an event, event type, type of violent actor or specific armed group, location, and time.
