An international think tank has voiced alarm over an “unprecedented” rise in terrorism worldwide, saying the number of terror-related fatalities soared 80 percent last year compared to the year before.

According to a new study released Tuesday by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), 32,658 people were killed in terrorist activities in different parts of the world in 2014, up from 18,111 recorded the previous year.

Takfiri Daesh terrorists, who control swaths of land in Syria and neighboring Iraq, as well as the Nigeria-based Boko Haram terror group were jointly responsible for 51 percent of the 2014 fatalities, the data by the IEP’s Global Terrorism Index showed.

The report also said that 78 percent of all the deaths and 57 percent of all terror attacks internationally occurred in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

“Terrorism is gaining momentum at an unprecedented pace,” said Steve Killelea, the IEP’s executive chairman.

Iraq, according to the report’s statistics, continues to be the country hardest hit by terrorism, with 9,929 terror-related deaths, the highest ever recorded in a single country.

“Ten of the eleven countries most affected by terrorism also have the highest rates of refugees and internal displacement. This highlights the strong connections between the current refugee crisis, terrorism and conflict,” Killelea said, adding, “What is most striking from our analysis is how the drivers of terrorism differ between more and less developed countries.”

The report also said terrorism cost the international community $52.9 billion in 2014, a 61-percent rise from the previous year’s total of $32.9 billion, and a tenfold increase since 2000.

The IEP classifies terrorism as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation.”

Killelea also warned that between 25,000 and 30,000 foreign militants, who have joined the ranks of the terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, could pose a serious security threat to their home countries.

Having taken control of parts of Syria, Daesh began its march in neighboring Iraq in early June and seized swaths of territory in the northern and western parts of the country. The terror group has since then attempted to extend its terror to other parts of the world.