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Conflict deaths by country

Ukraine recorded the most deaths from organized violence in 2025, with 90,345, followed by Sudan with 75,174 and Palestine with 14,525, according to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). UCDP counted about 245,000 deaths worldwide in 2025, the second-highest total since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. UCDP also recorded 65 conflicts involving states, the most since records began in 1946.

Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), Georeferenced Event Dataset, version 26.1 · 65 countries · Updated October 2026

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Deaths in wars and other organized violence, 2025

World map shaded by deaths in wars and other organized violence, 2025
  • Under 100
  • 100–500
  • 500–2,000
  • 2,000–10,000
  • Over 10,000
  • Not in this ranking
# Country Deaths Deaths Deaths
1 Ukraine 90,345 91,779361,299
2 Sudan 75,174 7,103103,355
3 Palestine 14,525 21,54362,849
4 DR Congo 9,172 5,44646,512
5 Mexico 7,904 11,036106,713
6 Ethiopia 5,458 4,159333,126
7 Burkina Faso 4,441 4,25121,900
8 Russia 4,433 10,59015,524
9 Nigeria 4,158 3,20134,103
10 Somalia 3,872 2,43726,899
11 Syria 3,449 3,621143,989
12 Pakistan 3,331 1,96910,919
13 Haiti 2,448 1,3334,862
14 Myanmar 2,317 2,89616,322
15 Mali 2,157 1,90115,980
16 Yemen 1,718 1,03053,059
17 Iran 1,268 2232,645
18 Niger 1,117 1,2356,661
19 Tanzania 1,009 ·1,099
20 Colombia 986 7864,167
21 South Sudan 661 6978,407
22 India 623 5526,545
23 Brazil 619 1,67619,432
24 Mozambique 610 5226,517
25 Ecuador 439 3411,742
26 Cameroon 375 4216,502
27 Central African Republic 362 4987,141
28 Lebanon 347 4,3395,184
29 Afghanistan 332 357156,080
30 Philippines 197 2064,735
31 Cambodia 175 ·175
32 Chad 174 1952,063
33 Benin 160 85334
34 Costa Rica 142 57212
35 Indonesia 137 80559
36 Iraq 137 44030,051
37 Thailand 122 39556
38 Ghana 98 30159
39 Kenya 80 1121,513
40 Togo 69 68276
41 Burundi 62 70858
42 Argentina 45 26209
43 Guatemala 38 42142
44 Israel 38 791,461
45 Papua New Guinea 31 135428
46 Angola 25 25215

Why they rank where they do

  • Ukraine

    UCDP counts deaths where they happen, not by nationality. Ukraine's 90,345 includes Russian soldiers killed on Ukrainian soil. With Russia's 4,433, UCDP counted about 94,800 deaths in the war in 2025.

  • Sudan

    Most of Sudan's 75,174 deaths were civilians. UCDP attributes about 62,000 civilian killings to the RSF-led Sudan Founding Alliance, most of them in El Fasher after the city fell to the RSF on October 26, 2025.

  • Palestine

    Deaths fell from 21,543 in 2024 to 14,525 in 2025. A January 2025 ceasefire broke down on March 18. Violence fell sharply after a second ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025.

  • DR Congo

    M23 rebels took Goma in January 2025 and Bukavu in February. UCDP says the Rwanda-backed group executed almost 1,400 civilians in 2025. Peace deals were signed in Washington and Doha, but fighting continued into 2026.

  • Mexico

    Almost all of Mexico's 7,904 deaths came from fighting between cartels. INEGI counted 27,989 homicides in Mexico in 2025. Deaths tied to the CJNG cartel fell to about 4,700 from nearly 7,500 in 2024.

  • Ethiopia

    Most of Ethiopia's 333,126 deaths over 2016 to 2025 came in the Tigray war, which ended with a peace deal in November 2022. In 2025, UCDP counted 3,835 deaths in the government's fight with Fano militias in Amhara.

  • Russia

    Russia's 4,433 counts deaths on Russian soil, down from 10,590 in 2024. Ukraine entered Russia's Kursk region in August 2024. Russia declared Kursk retaken on April 26, 2025; Ukraine disputed this.

  • Somalia

    Al-Shabaab retook a string of towns in central Somalia in mid-2025, including Moqokori in Hiraan on July 7, reversing government gains from 2022 to 2023.

  • Syria

    UCDP says interim government forces executed nearly 700 Alawite civilians on the coast in March 2025. Fighting in Sweida in July killed 1,311 by the ceasefire, says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

  • Pakistan

    Deaths rose 69% to 3,331, the deadliest year in a decade by the count of the PICSS think tank. UCDP puts the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict at 67 deaths and October's Afghan border clashes at 178.

  • Haiti

    Deaths rose from 1,333 to 2,448. The UN office in Haiti (BINUH) recorded more than 5,915 killed in 2025. In the fourth quarter, more than 62% of those killed or injured were hit during security-force operations.

  • Iran

    Most of Iran's 1,268 deaths came from the June 2025 Iran-Israel war. Iran's judiciary put the Iranian death toll at 935. The United States and Israel began a new war with Iran on February 28, 2026.

  • Tanzania

    UCDP says government forces killed at least 1,000 civilians during protests over the October 29, 2025 election. The electoral commission gave President Samia Suluhu Hassan about 98% after her two main rivals were excluded.

How many people died in wars and armed conflict in 2025?

UCDP's dataset records about 245,000 deaths in organized violence in 2025, up from about 188,000 in 2024. That is the second-highest total since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, behind 2022's 317,936. Of the 2025 total, UCDP counts about 153,600 deaths in wars involving states, about 76,500 killings of civilians, and about 14,500 deaths in fighting between armed groups. UCDP says killings of civilians rose more than 400%, mainly because of the massacres in El Fasher, Sudan. UCDP recorded 65 conflicts involving states, the most since 1946. Of these, 13 were wars, with 1,000 or more battle deaths in the year.

  1. Ukraine90,345
  2. Sudan75,174
  3. Palestine14,525
  4. DR Congo9,172
  5. Mexico7,904
  6. Ethiopia5,458
  7. Burkina Faso4,441
  8. Russia4,433
  9. Nigeria4,158
  10. Somalia3,872

What is the deadliest war in the world?

The Russia-Ukraine war has been the world's deadliest conflict for three years in a row, 2023 to 2025, according to UCDP. In 2025, UCDP counted at least 94,700 deaths in the war, about 62% of all battle-related deaths worldwide. CSIS, a Washington think tank, estimates Russia suffered about 1.4 million battlefield casualties (killed, wounded and missing) between February 2022 and June 2026, including 400,000 to 450,000 deaths. For Ukraine, CSIS estimates 525,000 to 625,000 casualties, including 125,000 to 150,000 deaths. These are estimates. UCDP's figures are much lower because UCDP counts only deaths it can confirm from reports.

Ukraine90,345

The next five countries together112,233

Sudan, Palestine, DR Congo, Mexico and Ethiopia

Why is Sudan's death toll so much higher in 2025 than 2024?

Sudan's count rose from 7,103 in 2024 to 75,174 in 2025, mostly because of the killing of civilians. UCDP says analyses of satellite imagery and survivor interviews point to at least 60,000 civilians killed in El Fasher by mid-December 2025. The RSF-led Sudan Founding Alliance took the city on October 26, 2025. El Fasher was the army's last stronghold in Darfur. Battle deaths between the army and the RSF-led coalition also rose, to about 12,200 from at least 4,700 in 2024. UNHCR says about 14 million people had been forced to flee their homes by April 2026, three years after the war began.

  1. Sudan+958%
  2. Iran+469%
  3. Ghana+227%
  4. Thailand+213%
  5. Costa Rica+149%
  6. Benin+88%
  7. Haiti+84%
  8. Argentina+73%

Why is Mexico on a list of conflict deaths?

UCDP counts sustained fighting between organized armed groups as non-state conflict. In 2025, UCDP recorded almost 7,800 such deaths in Mexico, more than half of the roughly 14,500 worldwide. UCDP's 7,904 for Mexico is a fraction of the 27,989 homicides that Mexico's statistics agency INEGI recorded in 2025. Deaths fell from 11,036 in 2024, mainly because fighting involving the CJNG cartel dropped from nearly 7,500 deaths to about 4,700. Fighting between two Sinaloa Cartel factions, Los Chapitos and Los Mayos, began in September 2024 and caused over 1,000 deaths in 2025. Over 2016 to 2025, Mexico ranks 5th, with 106,713 deaths.

  1. Ukraine361,299
  2. Ethiopia333,126
  3. Afghanistan156,080
  4. Syria143,989
  5. Mexico106,713
  6. Sudan103,355
  7. Palestine62,849
  8. Yemen53,059

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