Number of terrorist attacks in Europe in 2021

In 2021 France suffered five terrorist attacks, the highest of any country in the European Union. During this year, Germany had the second-highest number of attacks at three, while there were two terrorist attacks in Sweden.

Vehicle attacks in Europe

Terrorist attacks using a vehicle to deliberately drive though a crowd has been used increasingly by terrorists in the mid to late 2010s. This tactic was used in the 2016 Nice truck attack, which targeted people celebrating Bastille Day and resulted in the deaths of 86 people. The type of attack occurred at the Berlin Christmas Markets on December 19 that year, which saw 12 people lose their lives and 56 others injured.

Global terrorism spike after 2013

Between 2007 and 2019 the number of deaths caused by terrorism worldwide declined from over 22.7 thousand to just under 25.08 thousand. From 2013 onwards however terrorist fatalities rose, reaching over 32.7 thousand in 2014. Although terrorist fatalities declined after 2014, they have not yet descended to pre 2013 levels.