Economic Impact of Violence.

• The global economic impact of violence was $19.97 trillion in constant PPP terms in 2024, equivalent to 11.6 per cent of global GDP, or $2,455 per person.

 • The 2024 result represents an increase of 3.8 per cent from the previous year, largely driven by a six per cent increase in military expenditure and a 44 per cent increase in GDP losses from conflict. 

• Afghanistan and Ukraine incurred the highest economic cost of violence as a percentage of GDP in 2024. The economic cost of violence in these countries was over 40 per cent of GDP.

 • In the ten countries most affected by violence, the economic cost of violence averaged 27.8 per cent of GDP in 2024, compared to just 2.5 per cent for the ten least affected countries. 

• Expenditure on peacebuilding and peacekeeping was $47.2 billion in 2024, just 0.52 per cent of total military spending in PPP terms. This represents a decline in real terms of 26 per cent from $64 billion in 2008. 

• Military and internal security expenditure accounts for 73 per cent of the total economic impact of violence. Military expenditure accounts for 45 per cent of the model, or $9 trillion. 

• Since 2008, the component of the economic model to experience the greatest increase was conflict deaths, whose cost rose by 421 per cent. The economic impact of conflict deaths, GDP losses, and refugees and IDPs, have each more than tripled in the last 16 years. 

• Between 2023 and 2024, the economic impact of refugees and IDPs rose in 112 countries, with an average increase of 30 per cent, while military expenditure rose in 101 countries, with an average increase of 15 per cent. 

• Many of the macro-economic adjustments happening globally are likely to increase the risk of conflict in the near future. 

• In 2024, global GDP growth remained modest at 3.3 per cent, while inflation stayed elevated at 5.8 per cent, despite easing from its 2022 peak. 

• Sub-Saharan Africa has been the largest recipient of Official Development Assistance over the past decade, but recent aid cuts will affect essential services and development. 

• Youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa remained high, at 24.5 per cent in 2023, which was more than ten percentage points above the global average. 

• While total global debt as proportion of GDP has declined slightly since 2020, public debt continues to rise, reaching $97 trillion in 2023. Debt in developing countries has been growing twice as fast as in advanced economies since 2010. 

• Debt service is placing increasing pressure on public finances, with economically developing countries spending an average of 42 per cent of government revenue on servicing debt