By at least one measure, the world is growing less deadly from terrorism, but an international study finds new threats – like right-wing political violence – are blooming.

The sixth Global Terrorism Index published Wednesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent nonprofit think tank based in Australia, scored 163 independent states and territories according to how terrorism affects them. The assessment considers the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries and property damage a country faces as a result of terrorism. Deaths attributed to terrorism fell for the third consecutive year worldwide, decreasing by 27 percent between 2016 and 2017 to 18,814 globally, according to the study.

Still, terrorism remains widespread, with 67 countries recording more than one death, and 98 countries recording at least one attack. A small number of countries suffer the brunt of the world's terrorism-attributed deaths. Just 10 countries accounted for 84 percent of all deaths from terrorism in 2017, and five countries – Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria – recorded more than 1,000 deaths, while 19 countries recorded more than 100 deaths.

Syria, along with Iraq, did see some improvements, with deaths falling by 1,000 and 5,000, respectively. The report attributes those declines to a weakened Islamic State group. While still the deadliest terrorist group globally in 2017, Islamic militants saw "a decrease in the lethality of attacks, highlighting the weakening capacity of the organisation."

While the report's preliminary data suggests ISIL, another term for the radical jihadi group, will continue to weaken with a loss of territory and revenue into 2018, threats are taking on new forms across the world.

The threat of far-right political terrorism, for one, is a growing concern in North America and Western Europe, according to the findings. While the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Sweden, and Austria were the only countries to experience increases in deaths from terrorism in Western Europe, both Canada and the U.S. experienced increases in total deaths in North America.

Far-right groups and individuals caused 66 deaths and launched 127 attacks in the regions between 2013 and 2017. The majority of attacks, according to the findings, were carried out by lone actors with far-right, white nationalist or anti-Muslim beliefs.

In the United States, the violence at the August 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting; and killing of 11 people in a Synagogue in Pittsburgh this past October contributed to the country's movement to rank No. 20 among the most affected by terrorism.

Steve Killelea, executive chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace, suggests reported attacks are largely related to alienation.

Such alienation “is popping up in the rise of populism in Europe and the rise of populism in the states and the election of [U.S. President Donald] Trump,” he says, and it can lead to terroristic violence when far-right politics are blended with psychological imbalances.

“Western democracy needs to address that alienation,” he said.

Possible future sources of terrorism include "foreign fighters returning to Europe after the collapse of ISIL in Iraq and Syria, as well as the threat of a resurgence of politically-motivated extremist violence in both Western Europe and North America," according to the report.

Around the world, bombings and armed assaults remain the most common form of terrorist attack, as they have every year for the past twenty years, while conflict and political terror are the primary drivers of terrorist activity.

The countries most impacted by terrorism, according to an analysis by the Institute for Economics and Peace:

