KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — Malaysia has climbed 42 places in an international terrorism indicator that has cited religious extremism as the primary cause of terror attacks worldwide.

In the 2014 edition of the Global Terrorism Index produced by the Institute of Economic and Peace, Malaysia is now 48th in a ranking that has Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan at the top, having risen from 90th spot in the 2012 issue of the report.

Malaysia’s score on the index measuring the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities and casualties as well as damage to property has also risen steadily from 2011, going from 0.42 out of a possible 10 to the current 3.04. Ten signifies the highest impact of terrorism.

According to the report, Malaysia registers 13 terrorist incidents and two related deaths in a given year.

Regionally, the Philippines, (9th/7.29), Thailand (10th/7.19) and Indonesia (31st/4.67) scored worse than Malaysia. Singapore was 124th with a score of zero, indicating no negative effects from terrorism.

In the report that registered a five-fold increase in terror-related deaths since 2000, the authors cited religious extremism as the main driver of terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Southeast Asia.

“The majority of claimed deaths from terrorist attacks, 66 per cent in 2013, are claimed by only four terrorist organisations: ISIL, Boko Haram, the Taliban and al Qaeda and its affiliates.

“Variations of religious ideologies based on extreme interpretations of Wahhabi Islam are the key commonality for all four group,” the authors said in the report.

Although no direct terrorist attacks were recorded in Malaysia, the country has seen a number of its citizens taking up arms in the ongoing revolution in Syria under the banner of the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIL or ISIS).

The country was also once home to several suspected key figures in groups such as al Qaeda offshoot, Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror group blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and numerous other attacks.

Local police were also able to arrest 19 suspected militants between April and June this year, after discovering their plans to bomb local pubs, discos and a Malaysian brewery of Danish beer producer Carlsberg.

According to Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, 39 Malaysians have been detected as having joined violent jihadist movement seeking to form a global Islamic caliphate.

Putrajaya, like many other countries, has designated the IS as a terrorist organisation.

A hand-grenade explosion in Kuala Lumpur last month initially prompted fears of terrorism, but police later revealed that the attack that killed a car jockey and left several others injured was a case of gang rivalry.

The Global Terrorism Index’s findings that Islamic extremism was the cause of two in three terror attacks last year will be of particular concern to Malaysia, which is experiencing increasing religious intolerance in the country.

The IEP is an Australia-based non-profit group that conducts research on the links between business, peace and economic development.

The Global Terrorism Index ranks countries according the impact of terrorist activities as well as analysing the economic and social dimensions associated with terrorism.