The number of deaths attributed to terrorism globally is continuing to rise, with Australia ranking only behind the US in terms of fatalities in Western countries last year.
In a frightening snapshot of the trend in terrorism events, a report by the London-based Institute for Economics and Peace shows 32,658 people were killed in terrorist attacks last year, the highest recorded, accounting for an 80 per cent rise from 2013.
The global economic cost of terrorism has now reached an all-time high of $US52.9 billion.
Australia was ranked 59th out of 162 countries.
The report listed seven terror incidents in Australia in 2014, including the Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney, in which Man Haron Manis took 18 people hostage.
Two hostages and Monis were killed while four other hostages were wounded.
The fourth death was that of 18-year-old Numan Haider, who stabbed two counter-terrorism officers in Melbourne on September 23 last year, before he was shot dead.
The Global Terrorism Index, released on Wednesday, covers events in 2014 and excludes the Islamic State's deadly assault in Paris last week.
The report points out that while terrorism remains highly concentrated in five countries, with Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria accounting for 78 per cent of all deaths, terrorism is spreading, with more nations recording attacks and deaths.
Of the 37 deaths from terrorism in Western countries in 2014, 18 people were killed in the United States in 2014. Australia, Canada and Belgium each recorded four fatalities attributed to terrorism.
Lone wolf attackers - such as the Lindt Cafe assailant Monis - are the main perpetrators of terrorist activity in the West, causing 70 per cent of all deaths over the past 10 years.
"Islamic fundamentalism was not the main driver of terrorism in Western countries: 80 per cent of lone wolf deaths were by political extremists, nationalists, racial and religious supremacists," the report said.
The report also reveals that just two terrorist groups - Islamic State, also known as ISIL, and Boko Haram - were jointly responsible for 51 per cent of global fatalities from claimed terrorist attacks.
It's likely Islamic State has now overtaken Boko Haram, having claimed responsibility for Paris, as well as the suspected bombing of a Russian passenger plane two weeks ago over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
"The rise of ISIL has brought with it several challenging dynamics for counter-terrorism," the report said.
"Current estimates now range from 25,000 to 30,000 fighters, from roughly 100 countries."
The report also warns that the flow of foreign fighters does not appear to be diminishing, with more than 7000 arriving in the first six months of 2015.
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