GUN ownership is soaring across Europe as terror attacks fears prompt civilians to buy weapons on the dark web.

In Germany, the number of legally registered arms rose by around 10 per cent to 6.1million in the five years to 2017.

3 Gun ownership is on the rise across many European countries, figures show

While in Belgium, applications for shooting licenses almost doubled after the terrorist attacks by an ISIS cell in Paris in November 2015 and four months later in Brussels.

Between 2012-17 at least 360 people died as a result of ISIS terrorist attacks in Europe.

Registered arms are also on the rise, but Europe's unregistered weapons outnumbered legal ones in 2017 by 44.5 million to 34.2 million, research by the Small Arms Survey reveals.

“Europe represents the largest market for arms trade on the dark web, generating revenues that are around five times higher than the U.S.,” a recent Rand Corp. report concluded.

Germany trails behind 15 other countries in the survey, including Balkan countries Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

3 Fears of terror attacks such as the Bataclan atrocity in Paris have driven a rise in the number of civilian-owned firearms Credit: Reuters

Many illegal weapons come from one-time war zones, such as countries of the former Yugoslavia, and others are purchased online, the WSJ reports.

Extremists as well as civilians are turning to the dark web for weapons, including the 18-year-old shooter who killed nine people in Munich.

Suicide bombers in Paris also used machine guns acquired on the black market, which were traced to a shop in Slovakia.

According to ONS data, the UK showed a two per cent rise in the year ending March 31, 2018 - rising to 157,581 firearm and shotgun certificates.

There is no available data on firearm and gun ownership in the UK. Britain does not rank on the Small Arms Survey top 25 ranked countries and territories.

3 Europe’s unregistered weapons outnumbered legal ones in 2017, 44.5 million to 34.2 million, according to the Small Arms Survey Credit: Getty - Contributor

But it is clear that it falls some way behind Germany, Turkey and France, where each country holds more than 10 million firearms.

Figures show there were a total of around 857 million civilian-held firearms in the world at the end of 2017.

MOST READ NEWS CLOSING TYNE Hundreds hit the Toon for last night out before lockdown & 10pm pub curfews 'WORST NIGHTMARE' Newborn mauled to death by 'jealous' dog who escaped from pen, says uncle 'GRUESOME RAPE' Girl, 19, gang-raped by at least 11 MEN and thrown to death off building LOCK-TOBER Scientists 'want 2-week national lockdown next month' to tackle Covid surge LOCK UP With 10m already under local lockdowns & tough new rules we ask - where's next? TRAGIC DEATH Mum-of-13 who starred on TV's Extraordinary Pregnancies found hanged

Their origin is murky, though many of the illegal weapons sold and stolen across Europe are believed to come from former war zones, including countries of former Yugoslavia, while others are purchased online.

While gun ownership is on the rise in Europe, they pale in comparison to the numbers in the US.

There a total of 120.5 guns are held per 100 residents - in contrast to less than one firearm for that number in Indonesia.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.